A Walk in the Woods review, Tricycle

Unclear disarmament

For fans of verbal jousting, A Walk in the Woods is good sport. We're in Switzerland towards the end of the cold war. In a wood, two arms negotiators conduct a private dance of understanding that mimics the stages of love. Across the seasons, away from the scrutiny of diplomats and journalists, we see the chat up, the courtship, the moment of declaration and the first disappointment. Was it ever thus?

Nick Kent's simple treatment of Lee Blessing's spare and often very funny play works beautifully. We really do get two hours of conversation on and around a bench. World weary Soviet, Botvinik, known for the charm with which he says 'niet', wants to get the measure of his idealistic new US counterpart, the unimaginative but well-intentioned Joan Honeyman. During a walk in the woods the master of circular negotiation is beguiled by Joan's passionate belief that together they can change the world. Can they really pull it off this time around?

Set around a real event in the early 1980s when the arms race, unknown to us, was starting the final lap, the pair are locked in a battle of wills over defence capacity and nuclear capability. The narrative thread loops around the machinations of the superpowers, but it is the intellectual frisson between the two leads that drives the drama. Honeyman was originally written as a male part. Having seen a woman in the role, one can't imagine it otherwise. What's so interesting is their pitting of wits as equals with any whiff of sexual interest defused by the discrepancy in age.

In conclusion: Steven Crossley presents the ageing Botvinik with his increasing bad health and pressures from home with a subtle, playful elegance and Miriam Cyr slowly unwinds as the doughy, doughty Joan. Good stuff.

References:
Tricycle Theatre, tickets
Dominic Cavendish review in The Daily Telegraph