adler & gibb review, Royal Court

Tim Crouch's adler & gibb are lesbian artists - a US Gilbert and George - who suddenly drop from the public eye. When, in 2004, Adler's decaying body is found at her home, Gibb's part in proceedings comes under scrutiny but nothing can be proved. Reel forward ten years. It's 2014. A Viacom film team has created a biopic around Adler's mysterious death. The lead, Louise, is getting into role. She tracks Gibb down and puts the surviving artist under pressure to authenticate the fabricated version of her life. It's an intriguing storyline and the second half of adler & gibb is quite funny. Unfortunately, by that point a huge chunk of audience has done a runner. I too would have slipped out at the interval if not reviewing.

The difficulty is that adler & gibb tells one story - that of the artists, while demonstrating another - the process of acting, and the cynical way lives are manipulated to create more populist products. Managing the strands while maintaining pace and interest proves difficult. Despite a pukka cast including two children and a dog, and a huge array of joke props, there is not one character in whom one wants to invest time or effort, especially not with the sun shining and the World Cup on TV.

Too much time is spent on mundane acting exercises and character exploration - object, obstacle, intention. This is no doubt enormously interesting to theatre studies students and industry insiders. For the rest of us, it's like being accosted by the designer of a sports car who, instead of giving you the keys and letting you race up the M1 with the wind in your hair, puts you in  a windowless office and presents a Powerpoint on its design and build. Who cares as long as it goes?

In conclusion: In the same way that journalists delight at raking through the unpleasant minutiae of Hackgate, theatre and film folk will no doubt relish the moral conundrum, the dark heart of adler & gibb.  For this particular ticket buyer, there was insufficient heart to make it either a pleasing or a worthwhile, watch.

References
Adler & Gibb, Tickets

Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, London SW3.  Run ends 5 July