What would illness do to two people who love each other? Written by Brad Sutherland and directed by David Furlong, Until She Sleeps discusses this question in an honest, brutal way, with bold black humour, centred around a married couple.
Edward Dunbar and Henrietta Dunbar were a very loving couple. However, Henrietta is suddenly diagnosed with a terminal illness and will slowly lose her ability to walk and even talk. The fear of her life fading away turns her into a completely different person. She is terrified that her husband will leave her, to the point where she becomes paranoid that the reason he remains by her side is because he covets her fortune. She begins to make things difficult for her husband, and the two fall into an endless torment of each other. Edward also becomes more and more unstable and progressively moves towards a breakdown.
The stage for this production is not big, but the staging (Juliette Demoulin) is refined and effective. The majority of the stage is paved with marble tiles, and the other part is covered in green grass. The main setup on the stage is a bed (with a few pillows on it) and two white curtains. When wheelchairs and chairs are needed, the actors would bring these pieces of equipment up. Not only the stage, but the entire space is fully utilised.
Most of the time, the lights on the stage (Kimber Heath-Renn) are brightly coloured. But when a character's inner thoughts are shown, with dark blue light, everyone else is still, except the character who is still talking about their inner thoughts. When two characters are having a quiet conversation, the whole stage is thrown into darkness except for the dim yellow light around them. When the atmosphere is tense, music is also played, making the already strained air feel even more anxious.
All of the actors (Jonathan Hansler as Edward Dunbar, Tonya Cornelisse as Henrietta Dunbar, Rowland D.Hill as Peter Eastling, Robin Miller as Nicola Eastling and Orsolya Nagy as Millie) perform in a way that is articulate and naturally lifelike, making it very easy to empathise with them. The performances of Hansler and Cornelisse stand out particularly. Hansler's Edward is tormented by his wife but is unable to leave because of his faith and lingering feelings for her. From his trembling hands, how he subconsciously and helplessly strokes his remaining hair, and his moist eyes, we can easily feel that this man is always on the verge of breaking down. Cornelisse's Henrietta is bitter and acerbic. However, underneath the seemingly flamboyant and bold appearance, there is her fear of death. During the battle with her husband, it can be sensed that she does care about him. It's not hard to imagine the lively girl Edward once fell in love with.
Sutherland's writing draws the audience into the character's environment and, although Until She Sleeps spends most of its time showing how hopeless things are and how people can be turned by force majeure into an unrecognisable person they don't even recognise themselves, the tenderness that remains between people in this situation is probably the most important thing left behind in this drama.
Until She Sleeps runs at White Bear Theatre until 16th November 2024. For more information and tickets, you can follow the link here.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | photography by Paddy Gormley
Comments