Hen and Chickens Theatre 3-7 April, The Bridge House 12 – 14 April. Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
Tim McArthur certainly knows how to write memorable characters, filling his new play about domestic abuse in an initially idyllic gay relationship with some real corkers. Control might be short, but it is almost perfectly formed, packing an emotional punch that will stay with you for days.
When Stephen (David Archer) begins a relationship with an older man, Jeremy (Lewis Rae), he thinks it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to him. Carried away on a romantic tide of meals at posh restaurants and social events, Stephen allows a distance to grow between himself and his best friend Sally (Kitty Whitelaw) and his mum (Jo Wickham). He thinks this is a natural thing, but the audience can see Jeremy’s secret actions to ensure he has Stephen to himself in his own perfect little bubble. Eventually Jeremy’s jealousy and domineering manner is something Stephen can’t ignore, but he always accepts Jeremy’s heartfelt apologies and carries on passively in the relationship until his friendship with Carlos (Ben Woods), finally pushes Jeremy over the edge.
Director Guy Retallack has the cast sitting around the stage watching the action with the audience, heightening the feeling of helpless guilt and anger felt as you watch a relationship destroy someone you love. The actors slip on and off stage seamlessly as the story jumps forward in time, sometimes with just a moment’s breath marking months, carrying the audience at breakneck speed through Jeremy’s subtly engineered idea of love. As dark as the play’s theme is, there are lots of laughs, most provided by the fantastic daily Skype calls between Stephen and his mum.
The cast is superb, with Lewis Rae delivering a smilingly venomous performance as the twisted Jeremy (if Control was on TV things would be thrown at screens all over the country during some of his evil machinations), and David Archer doing wonderful work as the sweet but naive Stephen, making his domination by the physically less intimidating Jeremy completely believable.
The ending is an abrupt shock, which on one level is wholly satisfying, but there is a part of me that longs to see the aftermath. The continuous little hints that McArthur teases through about Jeremy’s relationship with his mother and earlier sexual experiences come tumbling out to a certain extent in the final scene, but this damaged and damaging man is a character that I would love to see explored more.