The Unspeakable
January 29, 2009
Tristan Bates Theatre
27 January - 14 February
Huntington’s Disease is a hereditary disorder which affects the nerve cells in the brain, causing emotional, physical and mental changes in the personality. The symptoms are sudden changes of mood, aggressive behaviour lack of concentration, memory loss, and small involuntary movements which gradually become more pronounced. It can affect both male and female and the symptoms can appear at any age from 30 – 50 although even this is not predictable. Anyone whose parent suffers from the disease has a fifty fifty chance of developing it themselves.
Dominic Leggett’s play concerns a highly talented but dysfunctional family unit comprising Lydia, a talented concert violinist, her mother Antonia, a musicologist, and Antonia’s father, Edward, a composer, and sufferer of the dreaded Huntington’s Disease. The outsider of this family is Danny, Lydia’s charming boyfriend, who is a drummer in a rock band. Lydia has always believed her grandfather was dead, but she finds some tapes of his music that seem to prove that he is still alive. With Danny she travels up north to confront her mother and find out the truth.
Antonia has never forgiven her father for his dismissal of her talents as a violinist. He has written music for Antonia, but tells her unkindly that she has no talent, that when she plays it hurts his ears. He resents the fact that he sacrificed his own brilliant career in order to write jingles, to keep his wife and little daughter in luxury and pay for her violin lessons. He adds that she would make a good wife and mother. Unsurprisingly, she leaves him to take up an academic scholarship in America. She no longer plays and has hung her violin on the wall.
The tiny Tristan Bates theatre has the intimacy required for this intense drama which is well written and honestly performed. Phil Ormrod’s casting is exemplary. The characters come over very clearly – Suzanna Hamilton plays Antonia with great subtlety allowing her underlying passion to explode from time to time; Daniel Millar is sweet and supportive as Danny, and Jack Klaff gives an uncomfortable tour de force as the unfortunate Edward. In addition we are treated to some original music composed by Jieun Park and played by the lovely Jess Murphy who not only gives an almost ecstatic sincerity to the part of Lydia, but is an excellent musician. My only quibble is that the flashback scenes between Edward and Antonia are sometimes confusing.
-Aline Waites
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