THE GULF @ Tristan Bates Theatre, ☆☆☆ Review by JONNY WARD
Ever stuck with a partner because it was easier than splitting up? Playwright Audrey Cefaly explores this dilemma in The Gulf; a delicate and nuanced play set in her native Alabama, the titular Gulf Coast of the USA and directed by Matthew Gould.
We happen upon an idyllic scene – blazing hot sun, lush salt grasses, a small boat bobbing on water at the end of a jetty, a cool box; one woman fishing (Kendra played by Louisa Lytton), and Betty (Anna Acton) is sleeping.
We are clearly in the Deep South where not just the crickets and bullfrogs (provided by Will Thompson through his subtle but effective sound design) give us an authentic sense of place but also in the unreconstructed language “coon-ass” and the worrying effect on their creek (real or imagined) of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010.
We quickly realize, however, the relationship is not as blissful as the setting.
Betty starts to annoy us – has she scared off all the fish with her incessant drivel? In her defense, she asks Kendra “Cant we talk like normal people?” Perhaps so, but it would seem they are playing predetermined gender roles; Kendra all butch and surly, demanding Betty get her “a cold one”. Betty the relentlessly chattering femme. Power play. Status games. Some people go fishing to think. Kendra goes fishing in order not to think. Betty disrupts this and her amorous advances are continually and occasionally harshly, knocked back by Kendra.
Exploring the conflict that arises from mismatched personal life goals is nothing new – look at Jerry Springer. What gives The Gulf a fresh take is the dynamic a lesbian couple brings – and in this part of the world too.
It’s a gentle piece but at times the terrain is a little flat. An undercurrent of threat can almost be detected; That knife! The oar! That alligator! but it never quite materializes.
Each actor brings a professionally honed characterization to their roles but the two actors together fail to catch fire and it really needs to blaze to sustain an hour and a half with no interval. Whether this is the writing, the acting or the directing – it’s hard to tell. Playwright Audrey Cefaly is “an outspoken proponent of silence in storytelling” but any opportunity to create excitement through silence or Pinteresque pauses is largely missed here.
The beautiful, imperceptible, super-long crossfade (from Lighting Designer Mitchell Reeve) brings the night to us without us realizing and the sounds of fish or perhaps those alligators can be heard. As night cloaks the pair, they reminisce about the time they first met which brings them back together – but will it last till morning?
The gulf between them ebbs and flows like the tide lapping against their little boat yet it would seem their differences are still not enough to separate them.
M. Green Productions present The Gulf written by Audrey Cefaly Tristan Bates Theatre Tue 17 April - Sat 5 MayLabels: 2018, culture, Jonny Ward, London, theatre review
