THE VERTICAL HOUR
PLAYWRIGHT: David Hare
DIRECTOR: Fred Abrahamse
CAST: Michael Richard, Jackie Rens, Richard Gau, Jaco van Rensburg, Sinakho Zokuta
VENUE: The Studio at Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre
UNTIL: November 9
RATING: ****
‘IN combat medicine, there’s a moment – after a disaster, after a shooting – there’s this moment, The Vertical Hour, when you can actually be of some use…” (hence the title).
There has been a revival of a few David Hare plays: Skylight which will be screened locally on NT Live at Cinema Nouveau from November 14, and here The Vertical Hour.
Having seen both, it’s easy to see the reason for the revivals, even though they were first performed from about 2006. The one deals with the gap between rich and poor and in these past few years that has exacerbated at an alarming rate, while The Vertical Hour holds at its centre the Iraqi war, the choices we make and how our decisions are influenced by our personal lives.
That war has almost come full circle and again airstrikes and drone attacks have been launched on an enemy from within. It has meant that people are again discussing the war and what should or shouldn’t have happened. With new circumstances, many might wonder about their choices on either side of the war.
Because of when this was written, Hare takes the 2003 war and looks at the different arguments as well as what might have influenced them and how they impacted lives. He takes three individuals – one who stands on the sideline, while the other two have opposing views which he allows to play out, quite fairly from opposite sides.
A medical doctor, Oliver Lucas (Richard, pictured) receives a visit from his son, Philip (Gau), a physical therapist and his girlfriend Nadia Blye (Rens), a former war correspondent who is scarred by her experiences in the Balkans and now lectures at Yale. The son has come to introduce his girlfriend even though his feelings towards his father are antagonistic. She has gained some notoriety because she was invited to advise the US president on Iraq and because of previous experiences, she has a humanitarian stance on intervention. If the circumstances are dire, she believes, the US has a responsibility to intervene. Lucas takes a very different stance and this is where they tangle with each other.
It’s quite a static play which relies on the characters to engage with one another and the audience. It is intriguing and riveting as we have an older and younger generation, different genders and interesting relationship dynamics, all of which play into their points of view.
As the son, Gau’s persona is quite a tough one to inhabit and while he manages to pull it off, he could still get more comfortable with Philip as he peels the layers. Rens as Nadia is quite prickly and because her emotions veer from formal yet friendly to almost abrasive, she needs some lighter shading as she presents different arguments to make her point, but she balances beautifully with Richard.
As the boyfriend’s father, he is a man who has had his own disappointments and watches the way the world works for those still finding their way while needling them with questions before giving his own point of view.
Seasoned actor that he is, he is the one who centres the production with a quiet calm that holds your attention from start to finish.
It’s a provocative play, beautifully written as we look at choices, the way we make them, how they influence our lives and why different circumstances might change your stance. It tickles the mind and allows the audience to quietly listen to the dilemmas faced by ordinary people with their own visions of the world and how it should work.
And finally, there’s the quiet grace of Richard who is having the time of his life on stage.