Old Red Lion Theatre 13th October – 7th November. Reviewed by Claire Roderick
“We’ve had strange reports in this area about people reading.”
Somebody is decapitating children and leaving Enid Blyton books on their bodies. Could be a Midsummer Murders plot, but Playground is inhabited by characters that make Midsummer seem a harmonious, well-balanced place to live.
In the first act each scene change is marked by the stunning voice of Sarah Quist (Bella) singing “Oranges and Lemons”. Yes, it’s that sort of humour.
Every single character throws away lines that make you wonder if they are involved in the crimes. Even the police officers, who couldn’t catch a cold. Detectives Mitchell (Dan MacLane) and Birch (Christopher James Barley) are a very strange pair. They have a homoerotic dynamic which becomes weirder and funnier as the play progresses and they go undercover. They hardly ever look at each other, instead staring intently at the audience when they deliver their lines, like overwrought 80s cop show characters – hysterical.
The park is frequented by sad and lost characters – three of whom have been treated by the same psychiatrist. They are coping with life, rather than living it. Laura Garnier and Simon Every are lovely to watch as the awkward Tamsin and Stuart. His bemusement at her shoehorning communist ideology into every conversation and her changing body language in different situations are delightful and subtle. Carolyn (Josie Ayers) is suicidal and Danny (Richard Fish) saves her. Ayers is wonderful portraying the hopelessness of being the disappointing child in a successful family, bumbling through life veering between despair and hysterical enthusiasm. Fish speaks as the outsider – telling harsh and honest facts in such an innocent way that everyone accepts it. But, like the rest of the characters, he has big dreams – and one of these is to form a book club… studying Enid Blyton.
This isn’t an action packed play, but Peter Hamilton’s writing and the great acting keep you engrossed. This is black humour at its best. When the killer is finally revealed and motive explained, it is a laugh out loud moment that you instantly feel a little guilty about.
A fantastic play that deserves a much larger audience.