A dark family drama about grief, guilt and denial, Leaves of Glass is the second play in British playwright Philip Ridley’s so-called ‘Brothers Trilogy’; and while lacking the bite of his visceral fable Mercury Fur, it is equally unflinching in its clinical dissection of familial secrets.
Steven (Dan Frederiksen) is a buttoned-down businessman married to his materialistic former secretary, Debbie (Amelia Best). His younger brother Barry (Johnny Carr) is an alcoholic, drug-addled artist. Both are haunted by the past, and by their father’s early death; a subject their mother, Liz (Jillian Murray) – who favours trivialities and banalities over hard truths – would prefer to avoid.
The play unfolds in a series of fractured scenes which force the audience to piece together the plot, hinting obliquely at the undercurrents in the brothers’ lives rather than spelling out the painful details. When the shocking truth is finally revealed, it is truly gut-wrenching - one of the most painful and poignant revelations I have ever seen at the theatre.
Peter Mumford’s stark set, divided by transparent sheets of plastic which the actors slide open and close around them, highlights the emotional void Ridley’s characters dwell in; and Simon Stone’s direction of this starkly savage play is restrained and assured. The cast are equally impressive, especially the relatively recent graduate Johnny Carr in a demanding role.
Another fine production from Red Stitch.
Season concludes June 30.
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