NEVER CLOSER

 

 

Never Closer by Grace Chapple.  

Directed by Lachlan Houen Off The Ledge Theatre. Courtyard Studio. Canberra Theatre Centre. February 19-28 2024. Bookings 62752700. www.canberratheatre.com.au

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

Emily O'Mahoney as Deirdre. Natasha Nyall as Niamh.
Carroll as Harry. Breanna Kelly as Mary.

Recently formed Off The Ledge Theatre is making an impressive mark on Canberra’s busy theatre landscape. Never Closer by playwright Grace Chapple is Off The Ledge Theatre Company’s second production. At its opening night the fledgling company took an ambitious leap with Chapple‘s remarkable debut  play and landed triumphantly on its feet.

 

Emily O'Mahoney (Deirdre). Joel Hrbek (Jimmy)

Never Closer is set in Belfast in 1987 during the Irish conflicts with Margaret Thatcher as Britain’s iron prime minister. Five schoolfriends gather in Deirdre’s kitchen on Christmas Eve.  During the course of the evening friendship flowers one moment and bristles with tension the next. Surprise sends shocks with the revelation of unexpected plans  to move away and the close bond is further endangered when Nyve (Natasha Lyall) brings her English fiancée Harry (Pippin Carroll) to a reunion. For Connor (Nick Bisa), whose father was killed by the British, it is the fuse to light the tinderbox of festering tensions in a play that ricochets with suspenseful tension and ironic humour. Deirdre (Emily O’Mahoney) is a tightly coiled spring ready to snap at the slightest hint of a threat to her constant world. Mary (Breanna Kelly) is the conciliatory intermediary, ready to defuse the situation while Bisa’s Connor fills the room with threatening disquiet. Nyve finds herself torn between two worlds and Jimmy (Joel Hrbek) struggles with the dilemma of his love for Deirdre and his desire to leave for Dublin to seek a different life. Carroll’s Harry, as the outsider, provides the unintended comedy of insensitive ignorance and the fuse for Connor’s explosion. It is the power of Chapple’s writing to chart the course of the play’s central conflict of hanging on to the old accustomed tradition while confronting the impact of change. 

Breanna Kelly (Mary) Emily O'Mahoney (Deirdre)
Natasha Lyall (Neve)

In the intimate surrounding of the Courtyard Studio there are three main reasons why the audience is lured inescapably into the characters’ world. Chapple’s dialogue is gripping, resonating with authenticity, as though Chapple personally knows and understands each of her characters, even though her play is set almost forty years in the past. She has created a world that is instantly familiar. One recalls the intense and changeable bond of friendship, the eerie nights relating ghost stories or mysteries of the supernatural, ouija boards on a dark winter’s night, the drinking game or the times of frustration and disappointment. Chapple’s writing is not only visceral. It is immediately identifiable and constructed with the remarkable maturity of a far more experienced playwright. She is already establishing herself as a leading playwright.

Nick Bisa as Conor. Natasha Lyall as Niamh

Director Houen’s cast is outstanding. Each actor thoroughly inhabits the character. It is to Chapple’s credit that she is able to imbue each of her characters with a unique individuality, which each member of the cast assumes with utmost conviction. Five entirely different characters are brought to life by a highly talented ensemble. Keep your eyes out for these actors in the future. Each performance is filled with the promise of great things to come. You may need a few minutes to attune to the Irish accents but judging by the laughter in the theatre, many of the audience picked up the brogue easily.

Breanna Kelly (Mary),Natasha Lyall (Niamh) Pippin Carroll (Harry)
Joel Hrbek (Jimmy) Emily O'Mahoney (Deirdre)

That each actor is able to thoroughly embrace the role and breathe life into Chapple’s characters is largely due to Houen’s intelligent and meticulous direction. Timing and pausing are skillfully managed, heightening the suspense and the tension and then releasing it in an instance of dark humour. There are funny moments, as well as moments of pathos as characters are confronted by their own flaws or frailties. Bisa’s tortured Conor evokes pity and empathy. Houen orchestrates emotion and intellect with precise and purposeful direction of his cast. He is assisted in this by his team of Sophie Hope-White, the set designer, Marlene Radice, composer and Winsome Ogilvie costume designer. Houen with Joshua James maintains the atmosphere of a simple lighting design. There is no distraction to interfere with the power of the text and the performances.

Nick Bisa (Conor), Natasha Lyall (Niamh)
Pippin Carroll (Harry)

Off The Ledge’s Never Closer is unforgettable, absorbing and visceral theatre. It presents real people, tackling the feelings and pressures of life with a truthfulness that speaks to our own experience. The season is limited and I urge everybody to see a production that promises bright futures for the actors, the playwright and the director and his creative team.  

 Photos by PHOTOX