Longing **

Hampstead Theatre, London

EXCERPT:

“Boyd’s cack-handed script doesn’t provide a strong foundation for nuanced performances, but director Nina Raine and most her cast compound the issue by proving unnecessarily eager to telegraph emotions.”

I was disappointed by Hampstead Theatre’s production of Longing. William Boyd is a prestigious and established novelist, but sadly that doesn’t mean he’s any good at playwriting. His dramatic adaptation of two of Chekhov’s short stories lacks subtlety, sophistication, and any real understanding of how people confess emotions to one another.

The cack-handed script doesn’t provide a strong foundation for nuanced performances, but director Nina Raine and most her cast compound the issue by proving unnecessarily eager to telegraph emotions. Raine’s directorial technique worked for April de Angelis’ Jumpy because the comedic genre better suits slightly over-egged characterisation. However, for this slow-moving and bleak piece, heavy handedness just makes some moments actively tiresome. Whilst normal conversation is decently played out, it is moments of supposedly intense emotion that expose the lack of appropriate build up. None of the actors can convincingly muster up even a tear and – considering the calibre of the performers that The Hampstead attracts – at least some blame must be levied at the lack of naturalism in Boyd’s writing and at the flat atmosphere Raine has created. Tamsin Greig, who is superb at extracting every ounce of humanity from roles, does her level best with poor materials; that she overcomes the gripes I could lay at most her supporting cast’s feet is all to her credit. Same goes (though to a lesser extent) for her Downton Abbey co-star, Iain Glenn, though the setting doesn’t allow either of them to flourish or shine in the way that reflects their performative abilities.

Lizzie Clachan’s set design is dominated by a summer house that feels terribly oversized for the Hampstead’s stage. It means that next scene’s characters loiter nearby, not credibly out of sight or hearing, whilst private conversations that should be conducted far from the house take place right on top of it instead. Off-puttingly faux-chocolate boxy, the house’s design is just another factor that contributes to the overriding sense that this production is trying too hard, without much success.

Despite talent and evident money, it feels rather depressingly school production-esque: I wanted to enjoy it, and knew I should be, but it just doesn’t cut it.

To find out more about this production of Longing, which runs until 6th April 2013, please visit the Hampstead Theatre's website.