Review: Deathwatch

By Tess Humphrey.

Before reading our written review hear our preview in last weeks Yorworld now here.

This week sees the Drama Barn given over to Jean Genet’s grisly prison drama, Deathwatch, produced here by Alexandra Little and directed by Joseph Williams.  Green Eyes (Pete Watts) is awaiting the death penalty after murdering a girl; trapped in the cell with Lefranc (Edd Riley) and Maurice (Nick Armfield), the murder is re-hashed with mounting hyperbole and fascination, through long winding monologues to a climax of graphic physicality.

Of the many uses of the Barn I’ve seen, this is one of the most innovative, with a claustrophobic alcove as the cell, and the auditorium given over to the audience (some of whom have to stand).  Though minimal, the set is grimly realistic, right down to the suspicious stains on the toilet.  The audience are not treated to the bells and whistles of lighting and tech, but this is to be expected and helps the set to shrink aptly around the characters.

Watts, Riley and Armfield are a superb cast, vibrating with nerves and supressed energy and, more remarkably, are fearless in their physical acting.  (Watch the toilet.  That’s all I’m saying.)  They impressively navigate a script that is absorbing, character-driven, but also at times, very dull.  Probably Genet meant the audience to feel the prisoners’ frustration, which they undoubtedly did, but the script loses its characterisation in parts with theatrical clichés (“I AM the prison!”) and at times, wearing its themes thin.  This invites some over-interpretation in the form of sudden shouting in amongst whispers – where it may be meant to whip the audience into a state of nail-biting anxiety, it sometimes just felt like Acting.

Despite this, there is an abundance of York talent on display here, from Williams’s choreographing of powerful homoerotic fighting, to the cast’s incredible ability to brood and explode.  While I felt that the audience at times seemed restless and uncomfortable, this is also a great example of the physical impact that only theatre can give you, and only very finely-tuned theatre at that.  Deathwatch is an unusually dark production from Dramasoc, so if you like your theatre slow-burning and brutal, this is definitely for you.

Perhaps the last words should be left to Green Eyes.  “Get on with it and stop jibbering.”

There's no Yorworld this week because of Roses but you can hear our audio review of the production on the ((URY PLAYER)) here!