0.57°C Paul T. Davies reviews Two Come Home, staged at the Mercury Theatre.
One of the many outstanding things about Colchester Fringe is the celebration of local talent, performing alongside international and national artists. I saw a work in progress version of Two Come Home at the Lakeside Theatre earlier this year, and. after triumphant runs at the Brighton Fringe and King’s Head Theatre, London, the play has now crystallised into a perfect script that builds the tension superbly, and writer/actor Joe Eason has created a strong world that the audience are encased in.
It’s winter in rural Kentucky, where ex-prisoner and recovered addict Evan Nicolson leads a solemn and solitary existence until some old ghosts return to unbury a decade’s worth of pain. He tries to care for his addicted mother, and into his life returns his true love, Jimmy, who was violently beaten by Evan’s father, who has now been released from prison and is heading towards Evan’s home.
Eason also wrote the music, and a live band bring it vividly to life, with a song midway through that overwhelms the actors and audience with emotion. The cast take hold of the script and create believable, well-rounded characters. Eason is totally submerged in the role of Evan, haunted, angry, in love, in pain, vulnerable and brittle in his strength; the complexity of the man is conveyed beautifully. As Jimmy, Ben Maytham is a revelation, capturing perfectly the vulnerability of a man caught up in the chaos of his lover’s life. Nicola Goodchild is excellent as the addicted mother, Amy, managing to evoke sympathy for such a troubled character. James Burton is simply outstanding as abusive father Caleb, his voice and accent as much a weapon as his threats. The cast is completed by Hannelore Canessa-Wright as police officer Ashley, delivering back story and legal issues with style.
It’s somewhat rare on The Fringe to see an actual play (as opposed to memoir storytelling and physical mayhem), and the piece is structured beautifully, each scene building the tension. It’s a huge, angry scream against homophobia and violence, and it’s sometimes hard to remember this is a local company; the rural environment and entrapment is so convincingly played. A must see.
Tickets: Two Come Home – Colchester Fringe
