Apologia

Fine Lines

Apologia

by Alexi Kaye Campbell

Putney Theatre Company at the Putney Arts Theatre until 23^rd October

Review by Brent Muirhouse

Sitting down at Putney Arts Theatre, I felt like I was taking a seat to join the cast for a family reunion dinner of sorts, the stage set with a large table and hidden kitchen, which was to be home to the whole performance.  Within this simple setting, Apologia is a familial case study, drawing on the ensemble cast to straddle the line between comedy and tragedy, routinely swinging from amusing bickering to intense outpouring.

Apologia is unapologetically at its best when the stage is filled with almost the entire cast.  This entails the family and friends of an apparently previously absent matriarch Kristin (Amanda Benzecry), meeting in an act literally being dined out upon, culminating in an argumentative crescendo that unquestionably stands out as the highlight of the performance.  In these moments, the chemistry is portioned in a series of ongoing and overlapping dialogues with Kristin; a hostile engagement with her son Simon’s partner, Claire (Ellen Woszatka), terse exchanges with her other son Peter (Darren Chancey), and curtly responding to an enthusiastic approach from his partner Trudi (Eloise McCready).  Trudi is meeting Kristin for the first time and overly keen to make a good impression.  Adding to the mix is Hugh (Richard Seedhouse), Kristin’s friend and long-time activist collaborator, who must take the role of ‘fan’s favourite’ for a series of witty remarks that punctuate the acidity of the unfurling family anger with a genuine sweetness, and an extended riff on a dodgy black bean sauce misguidedly eaten as part of the occasion.  The see-sawing from laughs to bitterness is possible due to the cast being involved deeply with their characters’ plights, with Kristin and Claire’s acrimony the standout relationship in this regard.

However, there are quieter moments in the script that are less engaging, perhaps necessary to build tension and provide respite from the more intense scenes.  In these moments, whilst there is a loss of some of the momentum of the narrative, the cast manage these denser areas of the script pretty effectively so that the best moments of dramatic tension return.

At its centre, Apologia thoroughly delves into complex familial dynamics, the passage of time, and the consequences of choices made in the past, particularly those of a parent on their children, though not entirely without a study of the return direction.  The one-to-one dialogue between the troubled second son Simon (Chris Cully) and his mother, serves as an incisive cutaway from the cauldron of individual personalities thrown together to dine, shedding light on the underlying tensions and unspoken emotions beneath the surface.

By its conclusion, with the final guests departing, Apologia ultimately strikes the difficult balance between comedy and tradegy, with the delivery of some memorable scenes around the family dinner table.  The play’s exploration of complex family relationships and the consequences of past choices is thought-provoking, yet is made accessible rather than high-brow by choice one-liners and subtle put downs, with which audience members perhaps will most greatly resonate.  In the programme notes, director Jim Dixon notes that upon leaving he doesn’t expect audience members to “know exactly how to feel about what they have seen”.  Indeed, upon the final act, the lasting quandary was whether this portrayal was a family with a working model of dysfunction or with a failing model of function, a question far too deep to resolve there and then, as I left the theatre adjacent to the Putney riverside, into the streetlights of suburbia.

Brent Muirhouse, October 2023

Photography by Steve Lippitt

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