Superb Set Steals Show in The Elephant in the Room
Susan Stanley-Carroll on the latest play at the Tabard Theatre
Use of screens in the production shows the venue's potential
|
November 11, 2023
The Theatre at the Tabard’s latest production is the bittersweet tragic-comedy, “The Elephant in the Room by Peter Hamilton. It ends on Saturday 2 December.
A quirky, at times, almost surreal drama about a young man, influenced by a profound experience in India. He decides to renounce life and his inherited wealth to move into a retirement home. The retirement home’s residents, a ‘rum’ group of characters including the staff, are bemused by him. He is intrigued by them.
An excellent cast: Craig Crosbie’s performance, as Johnny, is mesmerising - utterly mesmerising - and a tad spooky. His captivating voice flows into every nook and cranny in the Tabard. And in one particular scene, he surprised Thursday night’s audience. I wont give it away!
The strong cast are superb and perfectly gel together: Stephen Omer’s enigmatic character (David) deftly delivers witty and cryptic lines with assurance. He creates, from a grey cartoon character, a very relatable person.
Josie Ayers plays Rosemary: she deceptively seems to simmer an air of sweetness and calm and yet that facade is broken when her internal rage alarmingly boils over. Josie is also responsible for the excellent costumes: Johnny’s blue suit is ‘spot on’ as it adds to the visual enjoyment of the production.
Kristin Milward’s role as Judith is defiant and dramatic. Enjoy her powerful scene in the Lavender Room alongside her shocking pink walking stick.
Kristin Milward’s role as Judith is defiant and dramatic
Yasser Kayani (Krish) plays the pivotal roll of Head Nurse. He delivers many humorous lines that help to steady the elephant in the room even when it is staring - out of a screen - into the audience.
Kristin Milward, Craig Crosbie and Stephen Omer
Fraser Anthony (Ashley), Lee Jia-Yu (Kim-Ly) and Baptiste Semin (Miguel) are key protagonists in the development of the story. They weave the younger characters into the plot, however, the denouement is somewhat exaggerated.
Ken McClymont’s direction and set design are ‘spot on’. His simple yet strong set is, almost, as visually thrilling as a visit to an art gallery. It comprises of four white screens that can be seamlessly moved to create different settings as well as being used for projections. Three geometrical shaped boxes represent furniture. These white objects within a black space are very effective and Mark Dymock’s lighting adds to the allure. This set is one of the Tabard’s best designed productions seen for several years. Hope future Tabard set designers will emulate this idea.
Baptiste Semin and Lee Jia-Yu
Despite the superb cast and the innovative set the script could be more nuanced: conversations during the first half had a tendency to ramble; both the communion scene and the split between Kim-Ly and Ashley seemed contrived.
A production that may not be everyone’s ‘evening tipple’, however, Thursday night’s audience were very appreciative. It certainly makes one muse about the issues of Anno Domini. And at this moment in time there is an elephant definitely, sitting defiantly, in my room! Will that elephant be sitting in your room too? Susan Stanley-Carroll
It runs to Saturday 2 December with performances from Tuesday to Friday at 7.30pm and at 2pm and 6pm on Saturdays.
The running time is 1 hour 45 minutes with an interval.
The play is directed by Ken McClymont, produced by Ross McGregor with Costume Designer Josie Ayers, Lighting Designer Mark Dymock, Sound Designer Hamish Tate and set construction by Gary Anderson.
The cast includes Fraser Anthony, Josie Ayers, Craig Crosbie, Yasser Kayani, Lee Jia-Yu, Kristin Milward, Stephen Omer & Baptise Semin.
Tickets cost from £15.50 to £25.50. You can book all productions online on the Tabard Theatre web site or call the box office on 020 8995 6035 (leave a message if you can't get through and your call will be returned).
Theatre at the Tabard is at 2 Bath Road, Chiswick (W4 1LW).
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
