Love, Lust, and Lost Connections

A Review of Two at the Barron

On the evenings of 6–7 October, a new pub opened its doors in St Andrews. For two nights only, ‘The Green Stag’ — the fictional setting of Jim Cartwright’s play Two — transformed the Barron at the Byre into a boozy confessional booth for the lost, the lonely, and the lovelorn. India Scarlet Kolb’s production of the 1989 drama appears a fitting opener for Mermaid’s autumnal run. After all, what could be a scarier introduction to October than a gory dissection of your average dating scene?

Kolb’s production took care to feel local, the intimacy of the Barron — with a capacity of just 60 people — made for a cosy atmosphere in which the characters laid their struggles bare within spitting distance. Audience members were forced to be directly involved as complicit regulars in the unfolding drama at the pub. Over the course of the hour, the pub became a character in its own right. It was partly because of this familiarity, however, that the production and set design left much to be desired — it could have done with looking a little more lived in. The set’s commitment to neon green LED lighting and minimalist set dressing conjured less of a cosy atmosphere than it evoked the more hungover of memories of last night’s  601.  Other aspects of the production felt similarly lacking in commitment; small changes, such as adding real liquid to the glasses or realistic-looking props, rather than paper stand-ins could have immersed audience members more into the characters’ reality. Watching actors pretend to drink air from plastic wine glasses unfortunately undermined the emotional current of scenes, and the production value would be considered subpar for even the most cringe-inducing National Five drama performance. 

Despite the underwhelming production value, the real strength of Two lay in the talent of its cast. The drama didn’t linger long on particular storylines, favouring instead episodic vignettes of pub patrons’ lives. This allowed  short yet sweet pockets of brilliance to stand out amongst the performances. In particular, Buster Ratcliffe Van der Geest, as ‘The Old Man,’ reminiscing on his relationship with a late wife was a thoughtfully rendered moment of sentimentality that very easily could have slipped between the cracks. On the other end of the spectrum, Sacha Threipland as ‘The Moth’ imbued the drama with an unpredictable uneasiness. Threipland’s swaggering womaniser had just enough charm to be manipulative and more than enough sleaze to have any sensible onlooker “asking for Angela” in seconds. 

Kolb’s direction made good use of the cast at times. The choice to have characters enter and exit through the aisle broke any separation between the world of the characters and the audience and enhanced the growing sense of unease and unpredictability. However, other choices felt less purposeful; at times, the blocking felt random and obviously intended for dramatic effect rather than a realistic reason. Whilst ‘The Old Woman’ changing chairs to hint at her shift in feelings towards her husband is a nice moment of dramatic symbolism, the musical chairs routine doesn’t make sense in the reality of the scene.

The episodic structure of the play is hard to pull off without feeling at least a little disjointed. This was nicely combated with the emotional through-line of Michael Griffith and Ruby Thake as ‘The Landlord’ and ‘The Landlady’. The back-and-forth simmering in the background added a much-needed source of tension to an otherwise plotless narrative. The dynamic begins with a slapstick quality that slowly becomes bitterly rivalrous. Whilst the tension certainly built between the two, the final climactic argument still left something to be desired. Despite an admirable attempt, the dynamic never quite reached the boiling point to be truly cathartic. 

Kolb’s production of Two was filled with potential, good ideas, and a strong toolkit of actors, but it could have benefited from a longer rehearsal period to fully flesh out these ideas and better utilise the cast. At its core, Two is a story about connections and people’s desire for them at all costs. Kolb and her ensemble of actors did an admirable job of portraying these connections onstage; with a bit more time and experimentation, it could build on creating one with its audience.

Photo by Violeta Vigo