REVIEW: Road at the Bear Pit Theatre

Road, The Bear Pit, Stratford, 26th September. Review by Peter Buckroyd

STEVE Farr’s production of Jim Cartwright’s influential play was in some ways a very different undertaking from the premiere which I saw at the Royal Court or the RSC’s at The Other Place which were both promenade productions from 1987.

In those two productions the audience members were very much on the road themselves with the actors, sharing not only their space on the road but also the characters’ disillusionment with a time of huge unemployment and widespread poverty. Times have not changed much. There may now be foodbanks (which this production was raising funds for) but their need is similar.

At the Bear Pit we observed the Road rather than being an integral part of it. Farr did employ the audience to some extent. Actors ascended and descended the risers, moved sometimes among the audience and were asked to participate a bit. With a cast of over 20 this was a very ambitious choice of play, but it was also a very clever one because the majority of the action consists of a series of monologues and scenes involving few people.

The cast was a very strong one, but there were some standout performances. Justin Osborne as narrator-participant Scullery energetically held the whole thing together in exemplary fashion. Benjamin Keyser’s monologue as Skin Lad was stunning: moving, enigmatic and perfectly paced while his performance as Eddie, very different in costume, posture and vocal skill, was a delight to watch.

Danny Masewicz, one of many characters escaping their situation, collecting anecdotes and recordings rather than partying with alcohol like so many of the other characters, brought out the pathos of someone with the ambition of writing a book who had dwindled merely into collecting randomly. Very different was the character Molly, described as mad but far from it, trying her best to escape her misery by song, beautifully and tenderly played by Hannah McBride.

This was a memorable production of a fine play, fully deserving the large audiences it attracted.

It’s also a production that put its money where its mouth is, and raised an impressive £1,600 for the Stratford Foodbank on its journey.