The Moon, The Moon

Liverpool Everyman (6th-9th May 2009)
Directed by Jon Spooner
Unlimited Company in association with Curve Theatre

Reviewed by Colin Serjent

This sometimes confusing production leaves a lot of questions unanswered about the various sequences in the play. Perhaps this mirrors the confused state of main character The Man (Jon Spooner, also the director), who is broken-hearted about the death of someone very close to him.

Is The Moon (Helen Cassidy) – who tells him she is the moon – his lost lover? Is she real or just a figment of his imagination? The other two characters involved – The Other Man (Tim Chipping) and his partner The Young Woman (Suxanne Ahmet) – tell The Man that the person he is speaking to is unreal; he is just dreaming.

After being persuaded by The Other Man to come into the warmth of a pub, and after standing on the edge of the freezing sea clutching a bag full of Christmas food, even though it is February, The Man is then seemingly imprisoned in the cellar of the inn, where he is chained by foot to a wall.

Whilst there he constantly questions his sanity and why he is in this predicament. His troubles are not helped by The Other Woman’s sneering disregard for him, as she takes great delight in tormenting him.

The moon, which has always had a powerful hold over mankind with its due to its illumination, and symbolic wonder, mystery and emotion, seems to follow him around in the guise of The Woman, and implores him to join her, and appears to offer a chance to enable him to throw off his anguished state of mind.

The intentions behind The Moon, The Moon – particularly the question of what is real and unreal in the world – are creditable, but it loses its way with its narrow characterisations and simplistic philosophising.

Printer friendly page

Sorry Comments Closed