There are things even love can’t overcome

Cry Havoc

Cry Havoc

Published Aug 18, 2015

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CRY HAVOC

Director: Roy Sargeant

Cast: Cameron Robertson, David Viviers, Anthea Thompson

Venue: Rosebank Theatre

UNTIL: Sunday

Rating: *****

Every now and again a play comes along to rivet the hearts and minds of its audience. Such a one is Cry Havoc, by the American dramatist Tom Coash. It’s relentless in its demands on spectators and performers, wreaking havoc with emotions as it depicts the death of a grand passion pressured to destruction by incompatible cultures, religion and politics.

The rich script is delivered faultlessly by the talented Cameron Robertson and David Viviers in a visceral performance counterbalanced by humour, the latter supplied by a tongue-in-cheek portrayal from Anthea Thompson. Roy Sargeant’s direction elicits the best from these actors.

Although the play is set in Cairo, with one protagonist a Sunni Muslim and the other a British academic, the themes explored are relevant in any place and at any time: a loving relationship, the stigma of homosexuality, and fundamentalist bigotry clash with tragic consequences.

What makes this exceptional theatre is its dramatic intensity. From the first appearance on stage of Mohammed (Robertson), gravely wounded and fearful for his life, we are aware of a volatile background gravid with unidentified danger, and this pervasive anxiety remains unabated throughout. Not even the apparently composed and comforting Nicholas (Viviers) brings any genuine sense of reassurance, so one is on tenterhooks until the final, startling image fades.

The only light relief arrives with serial appearances by the none-too-subtly caricatured bureaucrat of the British High Commission, Ms Nevers (Thompson). A whimsical matron described at one point as “a bit dotty”, she proves disconcertingly sharp in her perception of relationships, and there are moments of pure hilarity, such as her disquisition on the dangers of Love and Passion.

Robertson and Viviers run the gamut of moods in the doomed relationship, by turns teasing and tender, reminiscent and wistful, angry and bitter, hopeful and desperate. Whatever the temperature of their exchanges, they are always credible.

The sense of claustrophobia is enhanced by Luke Ellenbogen’s lighting and a soundscape by Ashraf Johaardien and Alby Michaels, the Rosebank’s minuscule stage being ideally proportioned for tight interaction between the leads.

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