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03
Feb
Review: Shellshocked is taut and tense
Lauren Crisp is a book editor, writer and keen follower of arts and culture. She reviews theatre and cultural events in and around the district in her spare time.
You can contact Lauren on laurencrispwriter@gmail.com.
Wesley (Jack Stokes), a young soldier recently returned from war, needs a job. After submitting his sketchbook to local artist Mr Lupine (Lee Bainbridge), Wesley visits his studio for an interview.
Upon greeting, Mr Lupine requests that Wesley remove his shoes and hold them out in front of him, for the artist to sniff. Wesley, only 19 years old, eager to impress and desperate to earn money for his family, complies.
This subtle display of power is just the first in an excruciating series of manipulations to which Mr Lupine subjects his aspirant apprentice over the course of the 70-minute play.
Mr Lupine, hindered by polio, could not serve in the war. Looking over Wesley’s portfolio, filled with sketches inspired by darkness and atrocity, the spiteful artist is filled with envy. Mr Lupine hates the fact that he could never create such art.
An unsettling game of cat and mouse unfolds. The audience comes to recognise that, as much as Wesley carries the burden of war, Mr Lupine is weighed down far more heavily by insecurity, self-abasement and bitterness.
This post-war, character-driven drama, a study of a society recovering from years of horror, is not what you might expect. The play’s course is altogether surprising, its script and direction (by Yorkshire-born playwright, Philip Stokes) twisty, taut and tense.
The two actors are excellent, and a claustrophobic set only heightens tension. Occasional music accompanies the action, but its inclusion feels oddly timed and sometimes unnecessary: the production could very well rely on intensity of dialogue and performance alone.
I must confess, I did not enjoy this play; I found it almost unbearably agonising to watch. Yet, with its ability to shock and to elicit such a reaction, I will also admit that therein lies its power.
Shellshocked is on at Leeds Playhouse from February 5 to 8.
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