Skåne opens with lovers, Christian and Malin, sitting down with their nearest and dearest to explain why they ran away together and why they are now returning to their respective folds. Facing the music in what one assumes is a civilised Scandinavian way (Skane is the Swedish apple district) their families ask simple questions that elicit complex answers: how did they meet in the first place, and how is it possible for them to still love their spouses and children if they didn't care enough to offer warning or dialogue before skipping bail?
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| The Colgate bile |
Like Harold Pinter's
Betrayal, the play then runs backwards, but here we go back only one week, to the moment the lovers decided to skip. What sets Pamela Carter's compelling script apart is that it hones in on the seismic shifts in understanding amongst the three children whose sense of personal value and security are forever changed by a single act, and the abandoned partners whose own boundaries have been tested.
The children are particularly well observed, the teenagers from each family (brilliant Michael Karim and Shannon Tarbet) mirroring the actions of their parents in a moment of otherwise unthinkable intimacy. Meanwhile, 11-year-old Ollie, lost in the middle, dons his mother's slip and acts out a suicide on video - the idea of his brother, whose mantra is that their mother no longer loves them.
In conclusion: A challenging and bleak play, rendered a trifle tortuous in this low-light production by the cast dragging props on and off like drilled dray horses, a wearisome choreography during a testing hour of drama.
References
Hampstead Theatre, tickets
Ought to be Clowns blog review
Hampstead Theatre is on Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London NW3 3EU. This production is now closed.
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