The title of Nick Payne’s new play presupposes a question, something along the lines of: "Is there an answer?" But an answer to what exactly?
Payne depicts four characters who are all beset by anxieties. Fifteen-year-old Anna is overweight; at school this makes her a soft target for bullies. Her mother Fiona is a teacher at the school yet her real difficulties lie in her bungling relationship with her husband George. Meanwhile, George is consumed by concerns about the parlous future of the planet, and Anna’s reckless uncle Terry bubbles with sexual resentment.
It’s not obvious what the play’s main thrust is, nor where our sympathies should lie, and Payne, who earlier this year won the George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright, seems to have a knack for kicking against expectations.
What begins as a conventional-looking portrait of curdled domesticity becomes something darker and more unsettling. Indeed, it feels like an exploration of the very act of making theatre: what does it mean to tell a story, and how important is it to come to conclusions? If that sounds abstruse, it’s worth emphasising that Payne’s writing can be very funny.
This is especially true when Rafe Spall’s geezerish Terry is involved. Spall has superb timing and the ability to ace any funny line; he makes even the most mundane profanities seem strange and interesting.
He is well supported by Pandora Colin, a nice blend of wit and pinched seriousness as Fiona, by Michael Begley, whose George is an exhibition of irritating mannerisms, and Ailish O’Connor, brave and expressive as the sometimes grumpy, sometimes skittish Anna. Josie Rourke’s direction is humane and thoughtful, and Lucy Osborne’s design, in which the entire family home is painted to look like sky, is appealingly original — and perhaps a satirical poke at the cult of "blue-sky thinking".
The first half of the play is a comic tour de force. Then it seems to lose its way. There’s an over-reliance on Anna’s tears, and George’s quirks, always excruciating, become unbearably so.
But the resolution is satisfying, and this is a fresh and rewarding piece, which suggests that Payne is a writer to look out for, as well as demonstrating the mesmeric gifts of the excellent Spall.
Until 21 November (020 8743 5050).
If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet
The Bush Theatre
Goldhawk Road, Shepherd's Bush, W12 8QD
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