Play Something

For anyone that has ever been in (or out of) love, there's almost inevitably "our song". And this is the intriguing premise for Paul T. Davies's play about love and loss; using the soundtrack to a couple's life to punctuate their story.

We meet M and F - one a closeted policeman into sex clubs, one an 'out' gay man looking for love - in a club. We then follow their story from denial through acceptance to rejection. We meet them later in life and discover how they've spent their lives and what fate has in store for them. No spoilers here! But that's about it.

Writer/director Davies uses the concept of four actors playing both characters. The older 'M' and 'F' almost voyeuristically commenting on their younger selves and vice versa. What could have been an excellent dramatic device felt laboured and was used inconsistently.

The stereotypical characters are not particularly well drawn and border on cliché. The obvious tension that the apparent misfits have is not effectively realised and the soundtrack to their lives fails to add spark or anything extra to the drama. If anything it was a frustrating interruption.

The play has potential and I think in better hands could have been more successful but the writing needs some pruning still and some of the shaping of the pieces needs reviewing.

Daryl Bennett