Vincent in Brixton

Drawn Forth

Vincent in Brixton

by Nicholas Wright

OT Productions at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond until 18^th April

Review by Patrick Shorrock

It seems highly implausible that Vincent Van Gough spent time as a very young man in Brixton as an art dealer and was possibly entangled romantically with his landlady and-or her daughter, until things came to an abrupt end following a visit from his sister. But, as often, with implausible reality, this is all historical fact. Writer Nicholas Wright produces a well flavoured drama from these unlikely ingredients, even if, inevitably, he has to resort to speculation. It is a measure of his success that this would still be a fascinating play, even if it wasn’t about someone who became one of the world’s most famous painters.

The intensity of ordinary life – something Van Gough vividly conveys in his still life of a pipe on a chair in the National Gallery – is also conveyed by Charlotte Henery’s wonderful set. It’s closer, perhaps, to Vermeer than Van Gough’s expressionist intensity and is crammed with beautiful detail: a real range, with steam coming out of saucepans; lovely old china cups and saucers; towels hanging up to dry; a wooden kitchen table; vases of flowers (carnations not sunflowers); a sink with taps that gets a lot of use during the play; a metal bucket for waste which receives everything from broken plates to sprout peelings.

Jeroen Frank Kales red haired twenty-year-old is a Van Gough still untouched by nervous breakdown, who hasn’t even realised that he wants to be a painter yet, although we see him producing a portfolio of drawings during the course of the play. He is shy and awkward, but not giving indications of future mental instability. Niamh Cusack as his landlady, Ursula Loyer, has been battered by experience but is also receptive to what life still has to offer. Their relationship is every bit as much about the need for intimacy as sexual attraction.

Things are complicated by Ursula’s daughter, Eugenie (Ayesha Ostler) to whom Vincent is initially attracted, especially as she is already seeing Vincent’s friend and fellow-lodger Sam Plowman (Rawaed Asde). Sam earns his living as a painter and decorator. He is keen to become an artist, but the faces the pressures of poverty and fatherhood. The arrival of Van Gough’s abrasive sister Anna (Amber Van Der Brugge) adds a further degree of complication.

There is a lot of ordinary life going on, meals being prepared and floors being cleaned, as the cast negotiate emotional undercurrents that get progressively deeper and more complex. The piece is beautifully and unfussily directed by Georgia Green, aided by Donato Wharton’s music and sound design and Luciá Sánchez Roldán’s lighting. It’s beautifully performed too by all the actors, many of whom are just starting their careers and are brimming with talent and potential. And that is what this piece captures so brilliantly – the wonder of ordinary life and people’s ability to capture its spell for others, even if future challenges may ultimately prove overwhelming.

Patrick Shorrock, March 2026

Photography by Johan Persson