Review: The Children

It’s a set of fears and regrets, hopes and aspirations that could not be any more relevant in our current climate: The Children, directed by James Critchley and on at the Corpus Playroom until Saturday 26th February, perfectly encapsulates the existential problem of personal responsibility and environmental devastation.

Kirkwood’s script lends itself perfectly to both Broadway stages and the cocoon-like, intimate space of the Corpus Playroom, and Critchley’s directorial decisions capitalise on this with full effect. From the outset, we are made to feel the existential, constant dread surrounding our two old scientists’ relationship with their dying world. Although it takes a few minutes to be immersed into the set and the dynamics between the characters and the situation they find themselves in, it soon becomes clear that there are some stellar displays of acting that lend themselves well to a play of this nature, particularly with regard to tonal nuance. 

Image Credit: Alex Huntley

Adam Keenan’s Robin and Imogen Gray’s Hazel demonstrate this perfectly as two retired nuclear scientists besieged by regret, both perfectly aware of the horrors their actions have unleashed, and yet all too painfully human, empathy-inducing, stewing in survivors’ guilt. Jemima Langdown’s Rose is an especially standout performance, and evidently well-directed, as the unsettling links and histories surrounding our three characters are teased out over the length of the play. The chemistry between the three flows; we are dragged one moment to the next from uproarious, familial comedy to heart-wrenching sadness.

Part of the success of this production also lies in the efforts and vision of the design team, and special credit must go to Francesca Gilks, Iona Boyer and Ella Fitt. The soft sound and lighting ran smoothly throughout the production, and the set was at once both maximalist and carefully curated, and perfectly suited to creating the atmosphere of a little cottage on the British coast; both of these visual aspects are handled very intelligently. Robin, Hazel and Rose must use this space as a benchmark for their personal relations throughout; they must know the space intimately, which is certainly achieved, through cohesion between actor and team.

Image Credit: Alex Huntley

 The space is utilised to maximum effect: it acts as both an enclosed, domestic setting that forces tensions and secrets to the fore, but also as a visual contrast to the large-scale environmental devastation the characters discuss, and a grim reminder of the resulting exclusion zone they fall in. 

Coincidentally, I had finished the HBO miniseries Chernobyl just a day before seeing this play; images of devastating radiation sickness, black, irradiated smoke and the insidious sounds of nuclear alarms were very fresh in my mind, which is perhaps why this play’s execution of the unique fear we have of something we cannot see, and, as humans, should not be able to control, resonated so well. Kirkwood’s intention was for this post-apocalyptic future to make its home in our subconscious, and to become an allegory for the impending climate crisis that is upon us – the efforts of Critchley and Gibson most certainly achieve this. Above all else, and unlike some student productions I have seen this term, I could detect a real genuine passion and emotional connection to the vision of this play, from both cast and backstage team.

The play’s eponymous children are thus both Rose’s children and the dark, ruined future they represent, and the retired scientists themselves; they may be old, but on stage they are themselves childlike having played with forces they could not control. Like all children, they must learn to live with consequence. This production blends politics and emotions, mortality and joy, regret and shame, and throughout it all an impressive level of integrity and creative vision is maintained. Well worth the ticket!

4/5

The Children will be running at the Corpus Playroom at 7:00pm from Tuesday the 22nd of February to Saturday the 6th of February. Tickets can be found here.

Cover image credit: Alex Huntley