The Bone Collector
Bone
BT Early Slot 2 May - 6 May
Let’s cut down to the bare bones of this play, so to speak. Helen (Jessica Hammett) has lost her husband, and is struggling to survive independently. Stephen (Peter Clapp) is a businessman, who while observing the world around him, reveals the pain he feels about his break-up with a long-term girlfriend. Jamie (Alex Christofi ) seems to have sex on the brain, and even admits that he thinks he “might be one of those sex addicts”.
However, we soon discover that at the marrow of his being, he harbours a deep concern for his beloved sister. Bone seems to explore the skeletons of the lives of three individuals; a crosssectional view that dissects all aspects of human pain. Director Alice Lacey explains that although the three characters never meet and at fi rst appear to have nothing in common, they “are bound together by their experience of losing someone close to them and of subsequently suffering in isolation”.
The audience is invited to observe a day in their distressed lives. This is a highly commendable production that succeeds in its alluring intensity. The three actors obtain and maintain audience attention with their energetic and well-paced performances. Hammet’s moving emotion is complemented by Christofi ’s confrontational manner. Notably, Clapp brings a dry, quirkiness, roughening the texture of the trio.
John Donnelly’s script is well observed, dramatic and interspersed with comic relief. Performances have been enhanced with active staging and symbolic use of set pieces, such as the illusory signifi cance of two upright mirrors. In a sense, this play is like a psychological mystery; the clues of the puzzle are uncovered frustratingly slowly with misleading non-sequiturs and plottwists. The emotive performances of the cast hold audience interest.
It is fascinating how the storylines simultaneously enthrall and distract, enmeshing the audience within a dramatic net. The viewer is continually identifying with the psychological plight of at least one of the characters. The play invites audiences to be both passive in observing three case studies of grief, and active in decoding the meaning of the human tendencies being examined.
The play instigates personal reflection on the insecurities that form the skeletons of our being, while comforting us with the knowledge that these insecurities are shared. We find ourselves agreeing with Lacey, that “no human can survive alone”.
27th Apr 2006