Natural Selection

By Robert Iles - 12th May 2008

It’s a comfy, amusing way to spend an evening: are we really at the home of fearless, irreverent, brave and provocative new plays? Natural Selection, by Paul Rigel Jenkins, takes another look at genetic engineering, imagined in a muddled future England/Wales. Although inter-species genetic engineering is an enormous and current topic, it is disappointing to have a story which has been so similarly covered by TV drama. But this is a comedy. Does comedy need to be cruel? After seeing this production, I was desperate for the characters to be worse than they initially appeared, to see the playwright cut through our cosy hypocrisies and rise above the dated conventions of easy-target comedy. But I was disappointed. After initial scenes with a healthy spread of laughter, the comedy becomes more sporadic. The cast were either very slow on cue-bite, or waiting for laughs which did not come. There was a feeling of isolation from the characters, as if they were not yet sure of the line the director wished them to follow through the play. It is a long time before the strands of the play unite and until then it is unsatisfying to see apparently unconnected stories vying for laughs.

The cast are all capable and I am sure will settle into inhabiting their roles. Lisa Diveney, Richard Heap and Wendy Nottingham are already convincing; their scenes are coherent and believable where others are not. Diveney sparks with attitude, Heap oozes competent, creepy authority and Nottingham shows delightful double-take timing. Alex Beckett gives a rounded performance, and engages us by avoiding being a cartoon simpleton. Out of a caricature dominant wife, Pandora Colin blossoms in the final scene. Daniel Rigby works hard to make Vlad more of a character than simply a plot device. I felt too aware that Alan Cox was acting – working to achieve another laugh – rather than presenting a character who would invite our sympathy before his revelation later.

Director Tim Roseman has not clarified his intentions with this play or smoothed the weaknesses in the writing. We do not have a consistent style or interpretation to drive the play along. There were several set-piece comedy routines (the opening ceremony, learning to use the till) which seemed to halt progression of the story. Several weak jokes are made about a Jewish takeover of the area – why not have the balls to allow Vlad to be shockingly, reprehensibly anti-Semitic? But then why mix in a background Muslim call to prayer? An old fashioned comedy such as this should have irresistible logic upon which to base its confusion, not the muddle we have here.

Did I care when we reached the trite, predictable ending? No. How I longed to be abused, to be shocked out of our comfort zone. This production has a reasonable share of easy laughs, but not enough muscle to survive among the fittest.