THE PROPER NIGHT TIME,MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT TIME
REVIEW
IN THE NIGHT TIME
(BEFORE THE SUN RISES)
By Nina Segal
Following in the footsteps of the extraordinarily powerful
Medea, The Gate have again produced an exceptionally intense and powerful drama
centred upon the intimacy and claustrophobia of the nuclear family in Nina
Segal’s In the Night Time, ‘proper night time, proper middle of the
night, night time…’ For when we have ceased all activity darkness falls and
a space is created for the fears to flood in.
Segal presents a
world of agonised sleeplessness, of a man and woman driven to the edge by the
cries of their new born baby. Outside it is dark, but the couple are only too
aware of both all the banal, and terrible, things that are going on in the vast
outer world surrounding their tortured intimacy. The crying child is central to
the room, to the relationship, to the action that threatens to destroy their
relationship. For the child’s cries deprive the couple not only of sleep but
their sense of security and confidence in the strength of the two-person relationship
they have established in the face of external threats and the needs of the
child. Though the play is replete with enough wit and irony to lighten the
intensity of the experience.
The idea that it is possible to escape the existential
threats presented by the modern world into the safety and security of intimate
romantic love is perhaps the most potent myth of the last hundred years. “He'll
build a little home, that's meant for two, from which I'll never roam, who
would, would you?” *
Few events are likely to challenge this ideal as much as the
responsibility of bringing a child into this world. Segal’s play explores both
the strengths and weaknesses of this model of human relationships in this
context, with great humour and intelligence. The play raises important
questions about responsibility and commitment, providing no easy or pat
answers.
Adelle Leonoe Woman and Alex Waldmann Man
Adelle Leonoe as Woman provides a performance of great
intensity exploring both her own fragility and hunger for life, both for herself
and her child. Whilst Alex Waldmann as Man presents his struggle with the real
and imagined expectations of masculinity and his inability to control the
situation.
This is a play that packs a great deal into 80 minutes and
will leave you departing into Pembridge Road reeling under the impact of a
profound and sometimes disturbing play.
*Gershwin, The Man I Love.
Adelle Leonoe Woman and Alex Waldmann Man |