Driftwood, which is written by Tim Foley and co-directed by Elle While and Neil Bettles, is a beautiful conversation about love, grief, fear and hope. Following the slow demise of their father, Mark (James Westphal) and Tiny (Jerome Yates) find themselves confronting one another and slowly trying to heal their burning bridge of a relationship. This review discusses the play watched as a live stream and not in person.
The natural rises and falls in conversations that range from confrontational to slow grief are well written. Set at a beach, the two brothers reflect on the past few years, and the crashing waves, creeping shoreline, and calm spirit further enhance this, providing a stunning backdrop. The discussions are intelligent and gratifying in the acknowledgement that both characters are flawed, yet so alive and three dimensional. It's an emotional piece and really succeeds at the sentimentality behind family loyalty.
The two performers, Westphal and Yates, both deliver strong performances. They bring Mark and Tiny to life, by detailing the smaller daily habits and routines, and this really helps us understand the characters more. With each brother processing grief in a very different way, their clashing and arguments are done well, and they've have a natural chemistry that feels realistic.
The pacing of the argument and dialogues are good, with the back and forth bickering about various aspects of their lives, as well as caring for their dying father. Long term grudges, and buried feelings bubble and boil over dramatically, yet the show is careful never to become melodramatic, preferring to ground it naturally. This works really well for the piece, and allows the audience to connect and feel for the characters, and reflect on to their own personal relationships.
The play, however, feels a little static and drawn out in terms of it heavily being one prolonged conversation with little space to breath. Whilst there are scene changes, these are minor and don't really bring additional dramatic action to the show, just another facet of tension. Whilst this is admirable in some regards, it does make it easy to disengage as the dialogue is continuous and heavy.
The staging is quite minimal (Lulu Tam), with two wooden block stairs being used to set scenes, doubling into the shoreline or furniture as need be. The show relies heavily on its exquisite use of sound (Lee Affen), lighting (Charly Dunford) and video projection (Sarah Readman). The three elements come together to create a wonderful stormy effect, that drops the audience and play straight into a raging sea.
The contrasting use of nature and the conversations add depth and it's quite immersive. Despite watching the livestream of the play, it still feels present and immersive, and that's a testament to the three designers. A further shoutout to Readman for including captions on the screen (both for the livestream and live performances), as it is small change but incredibly progressive and significant to the theatre industry.
Driftwood is an emotional and honest piece that touches upon several themes and the circle of life, yet doesn't quite earn the conversation.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review
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