Lot and His God review, The Print Room

Followers of the Old Testament will know that Lot was chosen by God to escape from Sodom, a city of sex and sin. Lot was later seduced by his daughters, who gave birth do his sons Moab and Benammi, the founders of two new tribes. The rest of us remember Lot because his wife was turned into a pillar of salt for disobeying The Lord and looking back at Sodom as the family fled into the desert.

Lotta trouble

Howard Barker's short play explores a tempting what if. The night before Sodom was destroyed with fire and brimstone, two angels were sent to Lot's home. What if one of them fell in love with Lot's wife, and what if she seduced him? Lot and His God begins with an electric interaction between the rather down at heel and unforgiving heavenly messenger, Drogheda, and Lot's swaggeringly sexy wife, named in the programme as Sverdlosk. Sverdlosk?

As the sex play between the two heightens, so too does the accompanying cruelty. In anticipation of destroying the city, Drogheda strikes those who irritate him, including their indolent waiter, blind and mute. With the boy scrabbling helplessly on the floor, Sverdlosk leads the angel to the library to make love, and Lot indulges in some rather dull soul searching that breaks the mood. Quite why God should want to spare this couple in this set of circumstances, let alone oversee the issue of new tribes from Lot's loins, is one to ponder, but Justin Aboth and Hermione Gulliford are beguiling as the lovers, so we don't mind.

In conclusion: The first scene is like a piece of music in its rhythms and pauses. The actors timings are spot on. What isn't clear is the significance of this imagined encounter, and the piece is weakened for lacking a recognisable context.

References
The Print Room, tickets
Lyn Gardner review in The Guardian