Southwark Playhouse has put a top team together to revive The Woods, a David Mamet play that has not been staged for over 20 years. And now I know why, writes Michael Holland…
Nicky has invited Ruth to his parents’ cabin for a weekend together and away from the city where they can profess their love for each other.
The conversation out on the porch begins with small talk about the small animals around, then drifts into bigger beasts like beaver and bears, but carefully avoiding all mention of what they came to the woods for, until, that is, Ruth brings sex into it via a story about her grandmother.
Said to be a ‘battle of the sexes’, it is more the bickering of the stereotypes. She is excited about them being away together. He has done it all before. She wants to explore the woods. He doesn’t. She wants to swim in the lake. Meh… She gives him a token of her love, a bracelet engraved with a promise of forever, and he is far from impressed. In fact, this is the last thing he wants. By the time they have had a glass of wine each, he is bored with her constant chattering, and the mood changes. He has no desire for a long-term relationship, or even now for Ruth.
I was bored with the nonsensical conversation that the programme tells us is based in mythology. Hardly any of the dialogue seemed real as they swapped scary stories and regurgitated the same stuff over and over.
The couple got drunker and nastier until, eventually, there was sexual and physical violence, which, surprise, surprise, he is consequently very sorry for and won’t do it again.
A great set, lighting, direction, and performances cannot save this old play that might be seen as complex but more probably as too clever for its own good.
Let’s put it this way, if there was an interval I would have made a dash out of The Woods and back to the reality of the city much sooner.
Southwark Playhouse, 77, Newington Causeway, SE1 6BD until 26th March. Time: 7.30pm. Admission: £22, £18.
Booking: 0207 407 0234 – www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk