The Bunker Theatre, 6 – 30 September. Reviewed by Claire Roderick
5*****
Alex Gwyther’s new play is a rare gem – tightly plotted and beautifully written, Eyes Closed, Ears Covered is a piece of theatre that will haunt you.
It’s 1986, and two Woking boys, Aaron and Seb, bunk off school and travel to Brighton to meet Seb’s mother. A violent incident on the beach finds them in police custody, and the police question Aaron to try to piece together the events of the day. By setting the action in the 1980s, before mobile phones and social media, the actions and naivety of the boys, and attitudes of the adults they meet, ring true. This was the era when children were bombarded with terrifying public information films (none of us went NEAR the railway tracks after seeing what happened to poor Robbie!) and then trusted to run free all day as long as they were back for tea. Actually, at first, I thought we were in for a testosterone filled version of the early 80s classic kids’ serial, Break in the Sun, where Patsy runs away from her violent father to her mother’s old home in Margate. But Alex Gwyther takes us into much darker territory.
The superb lighting design by Norvydas Genys, gives an immediate clarity of location and time on the clinically minimal set, and under Derek Anderson’s assured direction, the cast’s movement creates a relieving contrast between the interview scenes and the characters” little adventures”.
Danny-Boy Hatchard dominates the first act as Aaron, Seb’s only friend and protector. Cocky, funny and aggressive, Aaron is written with wonderful insight into the teenage mind – and Hatchard excels in his performance, switching from thuggish posturing to childish storytelling as he embellishes the events of the day. With the police officers and other officials represented as voiceovers, the focus is entirely on the onstage cast, and their reactions as they listen are superb. Seb (Joe Idris-Roberts) enters Aaron’s narrative, and is introduced as an awkward loner, on the spectrum, seemingly completely dependent on Aaron. The relationship between the two boys is portrayed sympathetically, and the physical and verbal comedy is authentically teenage, and very funny.
Some of Aaron’s actions begin to raise a few questions before the interval, and hints about the fate of Seb’s father are left hanging. Act two, with Seb reliving his last days with his mother, answers every question. The language used by Lily (the wonderful Phoebe Thomas) strikes a chord, and you begin to question everything you’ve seen in act one. Idris-Roberts, so sweet in act one, shines as 10-year-old Seb tries to make sense of what is happening at home as his mother Lily tries to protect him from the realities of the abuse she is suffering at the hands of her husband. Again, Gwyther has created a brilliantly relatable and real relationship – the two actors will give you goose bumps. And when your growing suspicions about what exactly is going on are proved correct, the emotional impact is overwhelming, with Idris-Roberts exceptional in the final scene.
There have been lots of plays about domestic violence and mental health, but Alex Gwyther’s Eyes Closed, Ears Covered, dramatising a broken child’s point of view, is a heart-breaking and thrilling triumph. A must-see show – grab a ticket now.