Park Theatre, London – until 2nd November 2024
Reviewed by Celia Armand Smith
4****
Based on Ali Smith’s 2016 novel of the same name, Autumn is pieced together like a collage of time, place, people and things. We meet Elisabeth (Rebecca Banatvala) in 2016 just after the Brexit referendum. She is staying with her mother Wendy (Sophie Ward) in the village in which he grew up, to visit her centenarian friend Daniel Gluck (Gary Lilburn) in a nursing home. We first meet Elisabeth as she tries to apply for a passport and the post office worker is very concerned that every step is followed correctly. We then start to bend time, moving to the past when Elisabeth and Daniel first meet despite Wendy’s concerns that he is foreign and strange – he has lots of art in his house. As we move back and forth, Daniel is being read to while he sleeps, the Profumo affair is explored through art, we meet Daniel’s sister in his dreams, and Wendy goes on an Antiques Road Trip style TV show.
In Harry McDonald’s poetic script, imagination, stories and art are woven together. There is a lightness to the flow, and this is due in part to the cast. Nancy Crane plays several parts from acerbic post office worker to a playful little sister, and with the use of an excellent catalogue of accents and clever use of props, it’s never confusing and is often charming and funny. Crane also provides a lot of the scene changes of Grace Venning’s clever simple set. Banatvala is also adept at switching from age 9 to 32 and back again with just a change in tone and a furrowed brow. Gary Lilburn is sweet and full of childlike enthusiasm as Daniel even when elderly and reminiscing. You want to go straight round to his house and discuss every aspect of life with him. Sophie Ward’s Wendy is quiet rage at the systems, springing into action and ending the play full of love and hope, masterfully navigating new feelings and a new zest for life.
Autumn under the direction of Charlotte Vickers is delightful from start to finish. It takes in all of the love and care of Ali Smith’s characters and narrative, and creates a poignant and engaging dance through time.