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Family drama has something of worth
ANYTHING OF WORTH
Pleasance Theatre
ANYTHING of Worth takes place in the family home of a dying old man and looks at the ease in which secrets can make a family fall apart.
It centres around the dying man’s two sons, Peter and Tom, played by writer/actor Daniel Kanaber and Mark Leipacher and the male nurse (David Holby) who has been taking care of the old man for the previous three years.
It becomes instantly obvious that the two brothers never had the best of relationships with their father but have dealt with it in different ways.
The elder (Leipacher) has become hard and resentful, unwilling to consider that his father is anything other than empty eyed and unloving, while the younger sibling is more forgiving but less aware of the family history.
The script is quite witty and insightful in places and the relationship between the siblings is fairly well drawn by Kanaber the writer.
But the attempts at naturalistic shorthand banter are slightly tarnished by Kanaber the actor leading to more than a couple of insipid moments of melodrama.
Also the stereotypically effeminate male nurse doesn’t have much to do for most of the play, except to lend an ear to the brothers, take abuse and look uncomfortable.
There are a few moments of genuine emotion and drama, mainly coming from Leipacher in the second half after the family revelations start flying.
But when the finale arrives it is something of a let down as the revelations aren’t anything that revelatory and the siblings have now become more petulant than sympathetic.
For all its flaws it is still an entertaining and well-directed play with some good things to say and after the actors become more comfortable with the piece it could well fulfil its potential.
Until Jan 29
020 7609 1800 |
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