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Potter’s play portrays the devil incarnate
BRIMSTONE AND TREACLE
Bridewell Theatre
LEAVING the viewer, as intended, dispirited and defeated, this is one of Dennis Potter’s bleakest plays.
It was written for the BBC in 1976 but initially refused screening because of the rape scene.
On stage the sparse living room of Tom and Amy Bates contains only a table, two chairs, a chintz lamp, an imposing pair of French windows and the sick bed of their crippled writhing daughter, Pattie (Sarah Bird).
While Amy believes that “there is light in her eyes,” Tom, played convincingly by Allan Hart, maintains “there is no God and there are no miracles”.
His pessimism is contrasted with Amy’s desperate stupefying hope. He can hear the barking dogs where Amy cannot.
Helen McCormack’s simpering, disingenuous Amy, is as deaf to their howls as she is blind to their visitor’s feigned sympathy and excessive ‘treacle’ sweetness.
Enter the insidious and revolting Martin Taylor (Dominic Ward), who, later it emerges, makes a habit of opportunistically accosting strangers.
Pretending to be Pattie’s ex-lover, he presents a chance for Amy to escape the house. Martin tells them he was in love with and proposed to their bed-ridden daughter, while casting a knowing glance to the audience.
This direct communication offers sarcastic relief from the couples‚ leaden blandness.
Martin is, as the title suggests, the devil incarnate.
The rape of helpless Pattie is accompanied by mocking riddles, to which some audience members rather disconcertingly guffawed.
Although despairing, the message is heavily moralistic. Once National Front supporting Tom vows to mend his ways, Pattie is miraculously cured.
020 7226 3633
Until Jan 27
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