Grey Area
Kings Head Theatre • 27th February - 5th March
Having regretfully missed the opportunity to see Homing Bird Theatre’s debut production Grey Area at this years VAULT Festival during its 6 performance run at the Network Theatre, it was great to get an unexpected second chance when it made a speedy return to the London stage, this time at Islington’s Kings Head Theatre, where it plays until 5th March. (Yes, you’ve only got three days to catch it!).
Billed as “a semi-autobiographical play exploring mental health in queer relationships”, this one hour two-hander written by Jonny Peyton-Hill takes us on an emotional rollercoaster ride through the relationship of Jackson (Jonny Peyton-Hill) and Peter (Lewis Kennedy). It’s a seven year journey of discovery, most of which occurs post-breakup, as the couple try to make the transition from relationship to friendship which, as anyone who has been in a similar situation will know, is a path fraught with problems, some physical, some emotional and some mental, but many that will no doubt look familiar to anyone who remembers the high’s and low’s of their first love.
As the play starts we are introduced to the couple sat on stage as Jackson is knitting. This gets quickly discarded, (or, more precisely, gets randomly handed to me to “look after”), so that he can present his partner Peter with a number of gifts, it being their joint birthday. This endearing initial glimpse of the loved-up couple is short lived however as things quickly turn sour, and the sharing of some seemingly long held resentments are indicative of the cracks that have begun to appear in the relationship, and sure enough, the next time we see Jackson and Peter, they are no longer a couple.
The stylistic episodic approach Peyton-Hill takes as a way to tell his story, in which the couples unravelling relationship gets revealed to us in short dramatic bursts, continues throughout the play, erratically jumping through a timeline where we witness Jackson and Peter experience new partners, fresh challenges, cycular arguments, difficult confessions, the sharing of confidences and the telling of truths. Though they try to distance themselves from each other emotionally, the shorthand they have learnt in being able to confide in each other also brings with it a tension as their history resurfaces no matter how hard the pair try to go their separate ways, each finding that the other is, in actual fact, the one true constant in their life.
This inability to escape the past is nicely reflected in the simple buy inventive staging, (Iona Curelea) as four clothing rails have been ‘spun’ with webs of red and green wool, hanging from which are various objects that are an accumulation of ‘trapped’ memories from their relationship. There are polaroid photographs, train tickets, birthday cards… (not to forget, a banana) amongst these objects, each revealing its relevance as the couples story unfolds. As the only pieces of ‘set’ on stage, these ‘memory walls’ are periodically moved to create different spaces during the slick transitions between scenes, aided by some nicely realised choreographed moves (Kiren Virdee).
With Jackson being the more exuberant of the two characters, its hard not to take your eyes off Peyton-Hill’s engaging and energetic performance whenever he is on stage, but Kennedy’s more laid back portrayal of Peter counterbalances Jackson perfectly, and whilst on the outside they might seem like an odd couple, for who splitting up might appear almost inevitable, both actors have a real chemistry together and, despite only being allowed to see a series of relatively short moments from their lives, it’s impossible not to find yourself rooting for them both, wishing, despite everything, they could find a path to not only be less tortured by their past, but to also find peace with each other in the present. Despite the liberal injection of humour, Grey Area is a surprisingly moving ride given Peyton-Hills snapshot approach to telling this semi-autobiographical story, the audience’s effortlessly won emotional investment in the characters a testament to the two quality performances, under the skilful direction of Chiara Virgilio.
On a side note, the performances Jonny Peyton-Hill and Lewis Kennedy delivered were all the more commendable given the somewhat ‘less than capacity’ audience in attendance the night I saw Grey Area. Maybe this run at The Kings Head comes too soon after the plays appearance at The Vaults Festival, or it’s possibly a victim of theatre attendance still suffering from a post-COVID / mid-winter / credit crunch apathy… all of which clearly remain a very real challenge for emerging theatre companies that both need and deserve the support of anyone interested in seeing powerful stories being memorably told. With such a strong showcase for the emerging talent seen in Grey Area, it’s maybe time you treated yourself to a slice of thought-provoking theatre once again, and at prices well below that of any West End show, you’ll be glad you did.
★★★★
review: Simon J. Webb