And I And Silence at Finborough Theatre

And I And Silence at Finborough Theatre

13 May, 2011
by: Naima Khan

Subtle themes fail to move Naima Khan but Naomi Wallace's poetic writing shines through in And I And Silence at Finborough Theatre.  

Naomi Wallace likes to pick titles for her plays from poems. And I and Silence is from a particularly obscure poem by Emily Dickinson: "As all the Heavens were a Bell / And Being, but an Ear/ And I, and Silence, some strange Race / Wrecked, solitary here." Appropriately, Wallace portrays solitude in an almost frightening way in her new play about two female convicts in '50s America.

I say 'almost' because the emotion is never as powerful as it ought to be and the play suffers as a result. Wallace has said before that she writes about ideas rather than feelings, but in this play neither are that affecting.

Having said that, her characters – Jamie who is black, and Dee who is white – have an incredible need for each other which is thought-provoking at the least. Alongside the depiction of poverty and alienation, it's their sexual bond that dominates the play.

Wallace's rhythmic writing is delivered sensually by the cast and adds a sweet, often playful poetic nature to the play but it fails to really stir much fervour in the audience. Possibly because the two characters have too many similarities. Sure Jamie is wise and Dee a little dumb but both are resilient, strong and confident – it's almost stated as a fact, not something we come to learn. Consequently, there's not much of a journey here.

What we do learn is how the prison guards beat them and the black women suffer in particular. Jamie's porridge is full of nasty things, whereas the good porridge is reserved for Dee and the other white inmates. But these challenges, which crop up in their conversations now and again, aren't focused on; they seem almost by the way, which leaves the audience unsatisfied.

Usually an optimistic writer, in this play Wallace leaves us with a rather bleak picture of her characters' reality. We see Jamie and Dee meet as teens in prison and revisit them there at intervals. Inside, they dream of their own plantation, husbands and independence, which is where the hopefulness comes to light. But the rest of the time we spend jumping in and out of their dreary adult lives where they are in and out of work as maids trying to deal with (and run from) abusive bosses. Money is in short supply, food is scarce and water comes occasionally.

I found the play a little directionless. On the one hand it's about the intense love between these two women, but I wasn't moved – the emotion doesn't make its way into the audience. On the other hand, Wallace's writing style shines through and makes this a play I would certainly read over and over again; just not necessarily want to watch.


And I And Silence runs at Finborough Theatre until 4th June. 

Photo: Cat Simmons and Sally Oliver by Andrew Reed

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Naima Khan