Kubrick 3

An actor and three actresses all play the part of the dead Mr Conway, with an additional actor playing the part of his son, come to his dead father in search of answers and some kind of closure on the disappearance of his mother. What he gets in return is all you can expect from a congenital liar and egomaniac. This is all illustrated very creatively by the various performers taking on different aspects of his psyche and the ingenious set which largely consists of a sliding panel behind which various locations made of a couple of chairs and a blackboard are created. All in all the whole piece has kind of a Samuel Becket feel. Which is no bad thing.

Where the play is let down a touch however is on how unsympathetic the lead four actors are. Alan Conway had few redeeming features and even the kind of rock and roll aspect of his devil may care attitude came across more as sleazy than anti-heroic. Although maybe that’s the point. But the potential saving grace of his sons character was not fleshed out adequately enough to make him the sympathetic protagonist either. So, all in all, I was left somewhat cold by the whole experience. Never the less this is an interesting story creatively told, just don’t expect anything life-affirming or certainly any new insights into one of the world’s all time great directors. THREE STARS

Review by Steven Vickers