Naima Khan samples some stunning acting and a stellar script in the intese Dream of the Dog at Finborough Theatre.
In this rich, often lyrical play by Craig Higginson, Janet Suzman and Ariyon Bakare fill the tiny Finborough Theatre with a stimulating, absorbing display of brutal reminiscence.
Katie McAleese's production places us in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa at the turn of the century where Patricia and Richard Wiley are packing up their belongings after selling their farm to a development company. Without warning, their former garden boy, now a grown man with a suit and a Mercedes, returns to dredge up the past.
Ariyon Bakare transforms himself into the resentful Look Smart, both on edge and coolly dignified. His anger perpetually simmers beneath the surface and occasionally bursts forth to the horror of his former employer. Janet Suzman matches his performance with a beguiling portrayal of the elderly Patricia. Both knowing and oblivious, she can predict her husband's every move but is shocked at the reality of her own past and the changed man before her.
In recounting the violent death of a black maid fourteen years previously, Patricia and Look Smart argue over whose memory of the event is accurate, and more disturbingly, the motives behind the actions taken at the time. To Patricia the past fades, but to Look Smart it replays itself vividly and constantly, fuelling his need to believe in consequences and justice. Due credit should also go to Gracy Goldman as the housemaid Beauty, who comes into her own, fixating the audience as she tells her version of the events.
On McAleese's clever set, Higginson's script takes centre stage. His triumph is his ability to meander through the poetic retelling of Look Smart's birth to weighted, unsettling talk of murder. His choice of words is telling and encompassing. Patricia isn't just selling the farm, she's going somewhere “to rot away quietly”. He causes the audience to sway, gradually feeds our need to know more, and satisfyingly leaves no question unanswered.
Suzman seems to have been waiting years to play this character, so invested is her performance. She handles a complex and brave woman delicately, with a wise understanding of relationships and their many forms. The acting in this intense play is stunning and, paired with an outstanding script, generates a riveting piece of theatre.
Dream of the Dog runs at Finborough Theatre until May 22nd.
Images by Clare Park
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