Lost in Translation. Turi Bar E Caffe. 25 Feb 2016
A singular test of great direction and performance is how text is managed in a bare space. Lost in Translation’s A Steady Rain is very much a masterclass in excellence for such a challenge.
Keith Huff’s two hander is a gripping blow by blow narrative between childhood friends, now partners in the Chicago Police Force, Denny (Nick Fagan) and Joey (Rohan Watts) who find themselves caught up unawares in the consequences of returning a young boy to his guardian in frightening circumstances.
Suddenly the underworld is making its presence known to the two men, Denny in particular. Suddenly, career choices, family survival, professional honour and respect are on the line as things become highly political as result of that one good deed. A sacrifice to make things ‘right’ is being called for.
The audience and performance space of Turi Bar E Caffe is extremely small and intimate. Barely a foot separates the front row and the two actors facing them, each sitting on a chair, with a take away coffee cup.
Fagan’s Denny is a down to earth, loud; pull no punches, world weary, worn realist in a leather jacket and pinkie ring. Watts’ Joey is a suit and tie man, a warmly spoken, thoughtful cut above type made for better things.
Ben Todd’s direction is a magnificent study in how to ‘phrase’ text and performance in a manner developing with precise sophistication, character, and dramatic impulse.
Todd manages Huff’s text in such a way Denny and Joey are at times, talking directly to each other, or addressing the other as if they were not there. This adds an incredibly rich inner psychological layer to each character and their relationship from its early days to the incident that could destroy it. Fagan and Watts are profoundly on song in connection with each other on stage. They fill the air with unspoken words of tension, of regret and anger.
The sense of Denny descending into destructive depths he cannot control, let alone protect his family from, while Joey seems to manage to keep his head personally and professionally above water is so very powerful, so heart breaking, so chilling.
Each rise from their chairs, each turn of a shirt cuff, placement of a jacket perfectly accentuates moments of submission, rebellion, moral reflection and finality of choice to be made.
David O’Brien
When: 25 Feb to 5 March
Where: Turi Bar E Caffe
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
