Neil Kelman - Christopher Eccleston
Christine Lyle - Tara Fitzgerald
Dr Rank - Anton Lesser
Thomas - Toby Stephens
Annie - Maggie Wells
Emma- Leah Davies
Ivor - Ted O'Neil
Director: Kfir Yefet
Designer: Anthony Ward
Seen in the intimacy of the stalls on the afternoon of the last day of it's run at the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden.
With such an absorbing cast, I'm afraid to mistakenly shift the balance of credit however my first reaction is that engine driving this wonderful experience is Zinnie Harris with such a fresh and accessible reworking of the text. It would have been trite in the wrong hands but this cast slide around the dialogue with such ease and assurance that it's hard to imagine how it could ever be less than joyful.
I can't even single out a performance for special credit. Toby was sexy on his own and even sexier with Gillian, who became a little too shrill sometimes but nonetheless gave a pleasingly emotional performance. Christopher's gaunt and bleak portrayal of Kelman was as sinister as anything you'd want to see on such a tiny stage and Anton can do no wrong with his ability to pepper heartache through his composed facade. The thankless role of Annie was played with about as much nuance as you could hope to get out of it, to Maggie's credit. The kids were kids but they didn't jar so I cannot complain.
I had the feeling that there were a couple more weeks worth of exquisite performance left in this but it seemed as though we were allowed to think we'd seen one of the best they'd done in the run. It's a talent to give a gift like that to an audience.
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