REVIEW: The Birthday Party

The Birthday Party Wednesday 28th March. Sensitive, comical and of course, deeply, deeply disturbing. This is the UEA Drama Soc, and Harold Pinter, at their best.

The Birthday Party tells the story of Stanley Webber (Harry Denniston), an unemployed, depressed and psychologically disturbed lodger, living quietly in a seaside guesthouse under the care of Meg and Petey (Emma Jennings and Sean Pearce.) One day two mysterious men, McCann and Goldberg (James Gault and Sam Holland) turn up out of the blue – and disturb the balance of Stanley’s life.

In particular, I want to remark that Harry Denniston’s performance was incredible. It can’t have been easy to portray a mental breakdown onstage so convincingly, and it definitely wasn’t a picnic to watch.

At times, the play was fantastically, and twistedly, funny but also unrelenting in its tension and sense of growing paranoia. This is one of the benefits of the in-the-round style of staging; you become critically aware, not only of the action onstage, but also of the reactions in the audience. One moment you’re laughing hysterically, as Stanley marches around beating a child’s drum (which Meg has tactlessly presented him with as a substitute for his piano) but then you look round and realise other people laughing. You think, wait, this isn’t funny, this is just plain sinister. Throughout the show this unnerving, destabilising balance didn’t cease for even a second.

The use of space in the production was simple but incredibly effective. It was the smallest details of the set (the period newspaper, the cute little photograph of Emma Jennings and Sean Pearce as a married couple on the sideboard, the ageing wallpaper of the boarding house, etc) that gave the play an intimate and very real environment. The set, in general, matched the quality and the professionalism of the performance (kudos to production team, Chrissy MacMahon and Meg Fozzard.)

The direction of the play was strong and well-controlled. The quick-paced back and forth between Goldberg and McCann as they interrogate Stanley, the comical timing with which the play was punctuated, and the sinister revelation as the lights came up and Stanley was crouched on the table over Lulu (played charmingly by Grace Church.) Again and again, director Rob Henderson impressed me with his intuitive take on Pinter’s play and the clarity with which he was able to deliver his ideas.

Both Emma and Sean played the kind of surrogate-parents to Stanley, an old married couple, just as disturbing as all Pinter’s characters. Emma, who played Meg, captured the dithering old woman’s character with hilarity and poignancy. She’s a batty, deluded old woman who dotes over Stanley like he was her own son (although this weird, oedipal sexual tension occurs between them at times, making this relationship more than a little odd). Sean, who played Petey, was perfect in his portrayal of the distant father figure; disinterested and seemingly apathetic right up until the end, when he senses something is amiss but is powerless to do anything. Emma and Sean were both funny and touching.

The sinister double-act of James and Sam as McCann and Goldberg was equally disturbing and hilarious. Respectively, they captured the characters of the cynical Irishman and the suave, sinister Jew brilliantly, and were a sure fit both as a comedy duo and as an intimidating two-man gang.

In short, the play was brutal, funny and really enjoyable to watch. Another job well done by Drama Society.

To find out more about the UEA Drama Society, upcoming shows and how you can get involved, go to http://www.ueadramasoc.co.uk/