Arts Theatre 22 June – 15 July. Reviewed by Claire Roderick
No red carpet for Rotterdam’s opening night, but a Pride rainbow instead as the Olivier award winning play returns to the West End.
New Year’s Eve in Rotterdam, and after painstakingly drafting and redrafting an email to her parents to finally come out after being with her girlfriend Fiona for 7 years, and finally summoning up the courage to press send, Alice is stopped in her tracks by Fiona’s sudden announcement that she knows she’s a man and needs to transition. Fiona begins the journey to becoming Adrian, with Alice’s apparent support, but their relationship comes under pressure as Alice begins to question her own feelings and identity.
This phenomenal play tells a transgender story with heart and honesty, but it doesn’t matter whether you’re gay, straight, trans or cis; the question of who we are, and how we want the world to see us and accept us is universal, and Rotterdam strikes a chord with the entire audience. Jon Brittain has created wonderfully rounded and layered characters that are relatable, funny and sympathetic. Although the laughs come thick and fast, the scenes where characters talk seriously about their emotions are wonderfully written. The scene where Fiona describes how it feels to be trapped in that body is brilliantly written and performed, and had a few people around me reaching for their hankies. No histrionics, just eloquent sadness and pain. When Fiona tells her parents over the phone, you could have heard a pin drop in the theatre as we waited for her reaction to their (unheard) reply – the audience is invested in these characters lives wholly and quickly thanks to the inspired writing and performances.
Alice McCarthy gives a beautifully nuanced performance as Alice. Uptight and thoroughly British, and stuck in a self-imposed rut, Alice hides behind politeness and will do anything to avoid confrontation. McCarthy’s posture, sideways glances and pursed lips allow glimpses of the fire beneath, and when she finally lets rip, you almost want to cheer. Anna Martine Freeman is stunning, brilliantly convincing as Fiona/Adrian with subtle changes to her performance as Adrian transitions that are fantastically judged. As Alice sees the woman she loves become a man, her confusion and anger are given an outlet by workmate Lelani (Ellie Morris). Loud, gay and hedonistic, Lelani tempts Alice to finally try new things. Morris is a hoot as Lelani, with a fantastic Dutch accent and OTT mannerisms that manage to keep this selfish character likeable. Lelani’s judgemental pronouncements about life are in stark contrast to Josh (the fantastic Ed Eales-White), a delightfully well-meaning and loveable character who acts as the voice of reason and reconciliation in the play. He is the one both Alice and Adrian turn to, and although he cannot say anything without putting both feet in his mouth, Josh understands them better than they do, and his love for them both is cleverly written, with his stupendously silly metaphors and jokes being a real treat.
Director Donnacadh O’Briain keeps the pace brisk without rushing important quieter moments, and the inspired set design, full of hidden doors and shelves that feels a little like an Ikea display, allows fast scene changes and prop movement by the cast, in character, accompanied by a stonking soundtrack.
Rotterdam is a simply brilliant play that deserves a long run. It begins conversations and helps fight prejudices without ever becoming preachy and self-important. It is basically a clever, funny and emotional story about the power of love – people NEED to go and see it.