45 Years at Chichester’s Minerva Theatre – review

As Kate (Geraldine James) and Geoff (Gabriel Byrne) approach their 45^th wedding anniversary, a letter arrives for Geoff. The body of his former girlfriend of 50 years previous, lost in the glacial ice on a hike in the Swiss Alps, has been found. What subsequently plays out is less the kind of mystery that you might expect following that kind of opening, and is instead a wonderfully uncluttered and nuanced examination of marriage and how memories and events before the couple had even met, shape and impact their relationship.

Based on Andrew Haigh’s film of the same name that starred Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtney, Hannah Patterson adapts for the stage in this world premiere at Chichester’s Minerva theatre. At 85 minutes with no interval, Patterson and director Prasanna Puwanarajah have created a captivating and taut drama of understated intensity, and whilst the action may move at a glacial pace, it is the performances of James and Byrne that fully entrance.

The structure that Patterson has created is like a slide show over the course of an unravelling week. Like the slides that Geoff has been hiding in his attic of his pre-Kate life, the scenes are flashed past us in a matter of minutes before a complete blackout moves us on to the next. It’s like an ice pick chipping away at the glacial block to slowly and painfully reveal the unspoken chasms of their marriage. It’s not as annoying as it sounds thanks to Puwanarajah’s sensitive direction.

Can the actions of Geoff’s previous life really damage that of the married couple so many years later? Can the life-not-lived be mourned by Geoff as well as Kate? Have the actions of the past dictated the decisions of the future? The unanswered questions stack up as the couple’s 45^th anniversary party approaches.

James and Byrne create a childless relationship that is intelligent and caring but without overt affection. There is a nicely observed familiarity between the two, subtly highlighting their dependence on one another. Even as distrust and doubt sneak into their marriage, Kate still reminds her husband to take his pills and continues to fuss around him. In a simple but heartbreaking final scene, a moment of tenderness that is designed to project domestic bliss to the outside world, is destroyed by them being unable to so much as look at one another.

Byrne portrays Geoff as a man that is aging, he forgets things and doesn’t like using his mobile phone. His Irish brogue is comforting until flashes of anger appear to reveal a darker and frustrated side. It’s a masterful grasp of how to create tension through stillness. James is all tolerance and understanding. She battles her emotions without fuss and stoically tries to maintain balance and outward calm.

James Cotterill has designed a starkly empty front room set, dominated by a floating loft hatch. A clever flip of the set takes us into the attic, but the actors are otherwise left adrift in the emptiness of the space. A curiously unfulfilling dribble of water represents the melting that has caused the gruesome discovery at the story’s centre. Global warming is like a supporting role in the action, but it is underdeveloped to such a degree that it feels unnecessary and distracting.

It’s an intriguing and thoroughly absorbing new work, but it is mostly the uncomplicated intensity from Byrne and James that really commands attention.