Earthquakes in London

A cast of thirteen may be unlucky for some but not for this company which tackled this challenging piece of theatre with aplomb. With two raised platforms and three additional acting areas on the flat the action moved around the auditorium at a lick with smartly choreographed set and lighting changes directing the eye from scene to scene.  A live band heightened the emotional experience and a TV screen doubled up as calendar and ultrasound monitor. Although the scene changes were slick and pacey we were never short-changed on the scenes themselves with well-measured dialogue within family and corporate groupings. The contrast between the three sisters, from driven politician through emotionally disturbed teacher to teenage rebel, found its match in the series of dialogues between the machine-gun delivery of autistic Peter/Emily and Freya on the one hand and the diplomatic duplicity between Robert and the airline executives on the other.  Tension and curiosity were perhaps the two dominant emotions felt by the audience as the various storylines interwove and as the extended dysfunctional family slowly tore itself apart. Although the climate change narrative was the main driver throughout this was cleverly dramatized through the way it impacted on the lives of climate change expert Robert, his three daughters and their relationships with significant others, including husbands Colin and Steve and one night stand Tom. The time shifting between decades, even centuries, added to the sense of audience puzzlement at times but the revelation that Peter was Emily, Freya’s unborn daughter, made it clearer perhaps that Freya was our conscience, agonizing over the morality of bringing children into a doomed world. 

Earthquakes was a complex drama that raised many questions, not all of which were resolved and which may have been fleshed out better with a second viewing or perhaps attendance at the Talkback.  Nevertheless, as with all the most rewarding of theatrical experiences Earthquakes made an impression, not just because of its technical and dramatic excellence but with its provocation. I won’t pick out individual performers for praise since the cast was so well chosen that each character stood out in their own way. Thoroughly professional in every way.

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