'Hardly brimming with searing insight or originality...nonetheless highly watchable', Lorna Irvine reviews the latest partnership between NTS and A Play, a Pie and Pint.
The first of three Chinese play adaptations co-produced by Oran Mor with the National Theatre of Scotland, this two hander, written by Lin Weiran and adapted by Rona Munro, is a pretty conventional soapy domestic drama.
Helen Mallon, one of the best actors in the recent affront to mental illness Takin' Over the Asylum, cries the most convincingly of just about any actor today—her lovely elfin features screwed up in hurt and confusion. Here, her expressive face is haunting and believable.
A woman (Mallon) is alarmed by an intruder in the middle of the afternoon, only to find he is her ex-lover who walked out on her eighteen months ago. Now that he is back, she, settled in an ostensibly happy marriage with a beautiful baby boy and comfortable lifestyle, wants answers. Mark Wood provides fine support as the feckless yet attractive man who is back in her life just as easily as he took off.
The usual back story traumas of alcoholism and damaged upbringings are wheeled out, recriminations aired and kisses shared, and the pair work beautifully and with genuine chemistry, revealing the sexual tension still burning after a long absence of unanswered questions and new lives.
Sex is not enough, however, to sustain them and, predictably, after promising her so much, he leaves again, with a further revelation. What does not make sense is the reason she falls for him after all he puts her through—her motivation is never explained.
Hardly brimming with searing insight or originality then (dysfunctional families damage their kids' chances of security in relationships—who knew?!), Secrets is nonetheless highly watchable, with occasionally poignant moments elevated by Mallon's moving central performance.
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