Stephen Lally's Letters From Everyone is an odd and haunting ninety minutes. Part police procedural, part social treatise, and part a study in grief, what it suggests in a story built around the murder of a student in South London, is that when we lose control we are all just one push away from the edge. The divide between those who are doing well and those who have fallen through the gaps is sometimes just the level of pain they've had to manage.
The action all takes place around the public memorial at the scene of the killing. Strewn with flowers and notes in plastic bags it is where Andy, the grieving father of the murdered boy, returns night after night. As he becomes steadily rudderless he fixates on Sam, a homeless teenager who has set up her pitch alongside the crime scene. He accuses her of capitalising on the memorial's significance and as their interactions take on a violent undertow, the lines of decency that separated the besuited mortgage advisor from the mouthy down and out, start to blur.
There are four characters in Letters From Everyone: Andy, Sam, Posh Boy Jamie - a local student who hangs out with Sam - and Julia, the investigating officer from the local nick. Lally runs their individual narratives on parallel tracks for quite a long way into the piece before creating the bigger picture by showing us where they cross. While the exposition is a bit over egged, the vehicle he has created to make the points is intriguing and interesting in Niall Phillips' production.
In conclusion: Letters From Everyone has some lovely lines and some funny moments. It takes a while to warm up, but once motoring it's a good watch. Cameron Robertson is terrific as Andy. Amy Cornwell plays the tricksy Sam artfully. Emma Pring is convincing as the watchful Julia, and Tim Gibson is a predictably charming Posh Boy.
References
Tickets, Letters from Everyone
Drayton Arms Theatre, Drayton Arms Pub, 153 Old Brompton Road, London SW5 0LJ. Run ends December 20
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