Wreckage

Turbine Theatre • 5th - 22nd January

Wreckage is the latest play from writer Tom Ratcliffe, first performed in 2022 at the Harlow Playhouse before making its way to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The play is a non-linear journey through love, life and loss as experienced by Sam (played by Ratcliffe) who carries the guilt of having lost his partner Noel (Michael Walters) in a car crash, having felt in some way responsible for the circumstances that lead up to the accident. Whilst this might sound like a massive spoiler, given the audience take their seats to find Sam and Noel are very much alive and very much in love as they cuddle up on an improvised bed, (the set design is exceptionally minimal), this is not so much an examination of what led up to the fatal accident itself as it is the emotional fallout that Sam must deal with thereafter.

His emotional cocktail of guilt and loss is never far from the surface as Noels spirit remains by Sam’s side as the years role by. Whether this is meant to be an apparition or an insight into Sams troubled mind is left for the audience to decide. “This is only as real as you need it to be”, Noel explains to a grief ridden Sam, although his continued presence is as much a torment as it is a coping mechanism for Sam, and as the play unfolds Ratcliffe presents us with an increasingly raw insight into the often lengthy process of coming to terms with the loss of a loved one.

An interesting stylistic approach to the narrative is apparent right from the start as the short lead up to Noels tragic car crash is replayed a number of times in increasingly quick and fractured bursts, as if a part of a fever dream which begins Sams long journey of acceptance. This structurally fractured approach to the play is somewhat akin to how ‘snapshot’ memories can sometimes be, and it’s a device that works well on the whole, adding an increasing sense of mania as we observe Sam seemingly both overcome as well as imprisoned by his grief, having been unable to resolve certain aspects of his relationship whilst Noel was alive.

Ratcliffe’s writing is as sharp and powerful as it was with his previous play Circa. The dialogue is tight and the observations remain continuously insightful throughout. His ability to stay in control of this unconventional narrative structure is also very impressive. Unfortunately some of the more acute observations around his characters emotional transition get lost in two ’turbo charged’ performances… many of the exchanges being either angry, violent… or just very, very loud. Whilst these are undeniably the often less talked about part of the grieving process, (and which certainly makes for a dramatic watch), director Rikki Beadle-Blair never really allows the actors room to explore the more introspective and quieter moments of grief, the singularly robust performances often only managing to dilute the characters emotional journey. A little more subtlety would have gone a long way.

This sense of disconnection was also exacerbated by the creative decision to cast Walters as two characters as, apart from being the love of Sams life Noel, he also plays Christian who Sam meets in the latter half of the play. Walters is left to flip-flop between characters as the scenes jump in quick succession from various locations and states of mind, which often leave the audience trying to work out if it is Noel or Christian that Sam is interacting with as each new scene begins, there being little to differentiate Walters interpretation of the two characters. Unfortunately it’s only having clarified which one Walters is playing that the audience can then try and pick up on the more emotional heart the play.

All of that being said, Wreckage does manage to build itself up to a strong emotional climax, Sam’s torment at the realisation that his memories of Noel are starting to allude him being a particularly well observed moment, which I confess led to me having a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye during a final scene that is a well orchestrated and genuinely moving moment, but it was unfortunately a bit too little that came just a bit too late. Tom Ratcliffe’s writing is the undeniable star of the show and is thankfully powerful enough to overcome the few missed opportunities found in this production.

★★★

review: Simon J. Webb

photographs: Marshall Stay