The Sea

The Sea, by Edward Bond

After a dark and stormy night, a small East Anglian seaside village is shaken up and residents turn against each other, faced with new and unimaginable fears in this black comedy. A death, a madman and an alien invasion are thrown in for good measure to illuminate this little corner of Britain.

Edward Bond’s strange play is set in England in 1907, a world teetering on the brink of destruction and transformation. 
The opening storm causes a shipwreck and the survivor, Mr Carson, arrives in the village to find out why the coastguard (Mr Hatch) did not help him save his friend Colin.  His youthful innocence is at odds with a village full of the relics of Edwardian England. 
He searches for answers but only finds sense from Mr Evans, the “wise fool” who has been outcast to a hut on the beach.

The success  ( that there is ) of Jonathon Kent’s production lies in the cast who take a bizarre and muddled plot and entertain us with their repertoires.   

The revered Eileen Atkins gives a powerful performance as the matriarchal Mrs Rafi.  Her niece, who was set to marry Colin, rightly informs us that the village is full of her cripples as she bullies them all into shape. 
She glides across the stage faulting all around her with an air of conceited glee, elevating herself to a superior role that she does not have. 

David Haig is very convincing as Mr Hatch, the local draper, as we witness his descent into insanity. 
He bankrupts himself by spending a fortune ordering material for Mrs Rafi, despite knowing that she is unlikely to pay for it, which no self-respecting shop-owner would do. 
This, combined with his conspiracy theory that the town is being taken over by aliens, is the trigger for his insanity. 

The highlight of the play is the hilarious relationship between Mrs Rafi and her companion Jessica Tilehouse (Marcia Warren). Their trivial bickering and amusing one-liners bring a lightness to this absurd play. 
Mrs Tilehouse, following one of Mr Hatch’s outbursts says: “After this I shall regard Gomorrah as a spa resort.”

The village play allows us to see everybody’s role in the town’s hierarchy.  Mrs Rafi, ever the performer, is of course the director, producer and main actor (Orpheus) of the show.  She then takes leading role in Colin’s funeral, which descends into turmoil as trivial dramas overshadow the sombre ceremony. 

This is a play of individuals, each character wrapped up in their own one-man show. 
Bond leaves us in no doubt that underlying the comedy is a deep sense of tragedy.  Mr Evans, perhaps the voice of the playwright himself, says: “Suffering is a universal language and everything that has a voice is listening”. 
Even Mrs Rafi admits: “I’ve thrown my life away.” 
However, he does remind us “without tragedy no one can laugh”. 
An impressive cast and a wonderful set but the play itself is overrated.

Laura Balfour
 
The Sea, Theatre Royal Haymarket, Runs to 19 April  www.trh.co.uk
Box office: 0844 8471545


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