Somersaults ***

Finborough Theatre, London

EXCERPT: “Despite some structural issues, Somersaults showcases compelling theatrical ideas and performances and is ripe for discussion.”

The Finborough is famed for quietly defying convention, and doing it beautifully. As such, Russell Bolam’s production of Iain Finlay Macleod’s play Somersaults feels typical of this lovely leading Fringe theatre.

Somersaults charts the demise of James (played with exquisite realism by David Carlyle). A successful entrepreneur with a beautiful wife, their separation and his bankruptcy come hand in hand with his fading grasp of his Scots Gaelic language and attached loss of identity. It is only at the very end, when – in true fourth wall breaking style – the actors address the audience directly to discuss the implications of letting a native tongue fade out, that we understand that James’ life is an extended metaphor for the dying language.

Delaying this revelation kept us guessing and mentally engaged throughout the latter half of the production. Furthermore, by retrospectively giving meaning to the surrealisms that had been so artfully – but incomprehensibly – woven into the fabric of the piece, this tactic gave the piece’s conclusion far more impact. However, to ensure this analogy worked, the narrative flow was disrupted to such an extent that I became emotionally disconnected from the characters, so reducing the potence of James’ fate and its message about the loss of language.

This production seems to delight in strengths that are also flaws. The beautifully accomplished and naturalistic performances by David Carlyle, Simon Harrison and Emily Bowker (as James, Mark and Alison) raised intriguing questions about the play’s subtext and back-story. From the homosexual chemistry so evocatively created between old friends James and Mark, to the complex relationship history behind James and Alison’s marriage, the nuances the talented trio brought to the stage added striking levels of depth to their relationships. This also had the downside of exposing the script’s frustrating abandonment of the various narrative threads it raises.

Likewise, while director Bolam’s carefully slow exposition of character and scenes achieves an impressive delicacy during the first half, (whilst the plot line is being built up and the action is energetic), lingering over each moment proves less gripping as scenes became more disjointed, insubstantial and switch so rapidly between the Isle of Lewis and both real and surreal London worlds.

Bolam has made much of the scene changes, making them almost work as part of the entertainment. For example, in one we are afforded a speedy insight into some of the action that precedes the boys’ drunken dancing to ‘Roxanne’. However, there are a lot of them in Finlay Macleod’s script, and as it goes on, perhaps these lighting shifts and musical additions exacerbate the segmentation of the plot line too much.

Despite some structural issues, Somersaults showcases compelling theatrical ideas and performances and is ripe for discussion.

Somersaults is showing at the Finborough Theatre until 26th January 2013. To find out more about this production and others, please go to Somersaults' page.