Donal and Mona leave Belfast for a new start in '60s London. Strangers in an unfamiliar city, they fall in love with life, each other and the drink. An exciting whirlwind of discovery startes to spiral out of control as alcohol takes its grip.
'We were like movie stars - I used to imagine we didn't walk, we glided - now all we do is stumble - it wasn't meant to be like this'.
Theatre Jezeble brings its third production ot the Tron following on from its succes with Neil LaBute's Autobahn and John Patrick Shanle's Doubt. This adaptation by Owen McCafferty of Days of Wine and Roses was first produced at the Donmar Warehouse to critical acclaim in 2005. JP Miller's version was famously filmed in 1962 with Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick in the main roles.
Days of Wine and Roses is an unflinching, clear-eyed look at addiction, minus the misplaced romanticism associated with drunks that is too often celebrated.
Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all. Had Days of Wine and Roses spent more time fleshing out its characters, establishing their romance and analysing their emotional collapse, it could have more convincingly portrayed alcoholism. Instead, it quickly reaches for the bottle, pours too much and, like a child stealing a sip of whiskey, winces at the strong flavours it finds within.
If any de-glamourisation of binge culture were needed, it’s right here in Kenny Miller’s production...with a langour that neither preaches nor sensationalises, and with a pair of fearlessly frank performances by Keith Fleming and Sally Reid.
Keith Fleming and Sally Reid give strong performances and really bring out the isolation, desperation and sadness involved in their situation.
So while Miller’s version is successful in its devastating honesty, it somewhat lacks in depth and finesse, a development which would guarantee the play’s masterful examination of social and self destruction at the hands of alcohol.
Donal and Mona are played by Keith Fleming and Sally Reid with such passion, skill, and depth of feeling that the play is often shattering in its emotional impact.
I can't pretend that this is a fun night out, but it is unquestionably serious theatre of the highest quality.
Dark days ahead
Tron Theatre, Glasgow from Friday October 14, 2011, until Saturday October 29, 2011. More info: www.tron.co.uk
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