It was back to basics last night with a play from ThickSkin and Pentabus, written by Tim Foley, called – you guessed it – Driftwood. Although pared down in the production department, it still had some very imaginative video effects, sound and lighting, powerfully getting the message across.
The work is about two brothers and their journey through life, both jointly and severally, as they say when suing partnerships. One, Mark, has left home in Seaton Carew, to prosper in the field of events organising in Manchester, whilst the other, Tiny, has stayed home to look after their father, living only on Carers’ Allowance. Their father’s health has deteriorated so much that Mark has returned home, after getting a call from Tiny that he has only days, or even hours, to live. Realising that he may be there for some time, Mark has rented a flat above a disused junk shop, which seems to be a metaphor for the town.
James Westphal as Mark and Jerome Yates, Tiny, getting reacquainted
For the benefit of my overseas readers, and those in this country who don’t venture so far north, Seaton Carew is a coastal resort in the North-east of England, which, in itself is very pretty, with four miles of sandy beach, given an ‘Excellent’ rating by the Environment Agency in 2019, but has a – literally – toxic legacy from when it was home to a zinc smelter which produced sulphuric acid as a by-product. To the south is a nuclear power station. I looked at Booking.com to see what attractions were recommended, and they were all in Durham City or Whitby!
Mark is several years older than Tiny, and, as such, was sceptical about the stories told to them as children by their father, whereas Tiny lapped them up. The main one concerned a character called The Marriner, who walked the beach and was made of driftwood, sporting a set of antlers. The other was of a ship named HMS Stag, which sank just offshore and is only accessible if the tides are right.
The two are connected in that HMS Stag was supposed to contain the bodies, stored in upright barrels, of all the townspeople who had died. They were rumoured to have been collected by The Marriner to release their souls in order to ease their relatives grieving. A kind of grim reaper figure.
A moment of angst for the men.
Tiny, who is obsessed with Vikings, so much so that he wants to build a pyre on the beach on which to dispose of his father’s body, swears the the two boys were taken to the ship by their father and saw the corpses, but Mark has no recollection and puts it down to his father lying. Like all good legends, there is a grain of possibility included. Lord Nelson’s body was stored in a barrel of brandy on board HMS Victory after he was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar, in order to preserve it until they got back to England.
Sadly, I must leave the narrative there as I don’t wish to spoil the twists and turns in case you decide to go and see the play for yourself – and you certainly should if you get half a chance. Although the plot is secondary to the dialogue, which is titled on a white screen at the back of the stage onto which video and stills are also projected – nice touch – it is given a great twist at the end.
The dialogue, which takes place exclusively on the beach, where Tiny has been instructed to go during his break from carer’s duty, to watch out for The Mariner coming, bowls along nicely. At first it is a bit of a boxing match as the two men manoeuvre whilst discussing the fate of their, still living, father’s corpse. They obviously are in the process of getting to know each other again after a long break in communications.
As time goes on, the legends are used to spark off differences between them and the way in which they view themselves and their father. Their mother deserted them whilst they were still children, so he was their adult role model, for better or worse.
A slight difference of opinion, and it’s not about the woolly hat for a funeral!
The funeral comes and goes, again providing a twist, and their attitudes change, especially after an attempt to cross the beach, avoiding the quicksand, in order to visit HMS Stag. The opening scene was a dramatic one with Mark rescuing Tiny from the perils of the sea, and this was repeated just before the end.
James Westphal as Mark and Jerome Yates as Tiny, were superb in their delivery. Arguing must be one of the hardest things to do when acting, as it need such quick delivery, any stumbling or drying would ruin it totally. Here there was a lot of confrontation, all of it handled impeccably.
The parts also called for a lot of physicality, both in the acting and adjusting the set, again excellently executed.
The Directors; Neil Bettles for ThickSkin and Elle White, Pentabus, kept the action moving along and the interest focussed. They used every inch of the set, which was marked out by some large wooden beams to create the look of a small groyne, inside which were two further wooden constructions resembling ramps from which skateboarders perform their aerial stunts. These needed to be moved around on several occasions to act as stages as well as housing the change of costume from leisure wear to funeral suit.
The expedition to HMS Stag
The Lighting Design by Charly Dunford set the mood a treat. From the darkness of the sea rescue scenes, with raised blue lights, rotating to make it feel as though the auditorium were submerged, to the chilly effect of the North-east coast on an October evening. There was also the odd black out to indicate short passages of time.
The Sound Design was by Lee Affen and comprised the usual seaside soundtrack of waves and seagulls, but turned menacing when the two men were being either tossed around by the water, or wading out during a storm. very evocative.
Mark with his dialogue captioned
Finally, the Video and Captions, which were by Sarah Readman and projected onto the aforementioned white screen at the rear of the stage. The words were displayed so that your attention didn’t need to be diverted away from the characters. Obviously, the waves were shown as being menacing in the more dramatic scenes, but, during breaks from the action, there was a background of the sandy beach, with the silhouette of the factories and wind turbines out in the sea. At one point an oil tanker glided by. My favourite part, however, was when the two men were changing costume, which they did on stage – don’t worry, they were adequately underclothed – and what seemed like a tourist information film was displayed, panning along the buildings on the seafront, making the town look very pleasant indeed, which I am sure it is.
Mark and Tiny donning their funeral gear with the video of Seaton Carew in the background
Sadly, there is only one more stop on the tour, and that is at the Lowry, Salford on 20th and 21st March and both dates are sold out. Should it tour again, be sure to bag a seat.
To see what else is coming to Leeds Playhouse please go to https://www.leedsplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on/
For a look at what ThickSkin is up to it is https://www.thickskintheatre.co.uk/ and for Pentabus https://www.pentabus.co.uk/
Feature image from Leeds Playhouse. Photographs by Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
Tyke It To The Limit 