Our Private Life Review
‘A town with the soul of a village, or a village with the body of a town’; a small place where both talking and thinking are the same thing and a rumour is spreading, shattering the reputation of a well off family in the process, is where Pedro Miguel Rozo’s black comedy, Our Private Life is set, translated by Simon Scardifield.
The main focus of the play is around a respectable family whose lives take a turn for the worse as they try to identify what is truth and what are lies. Nobody can trust anybody, and as the play goes on we see just how far people will go to get revenge, or in some cases, justice.
As the play ran from the 11th of February to the 12th of March, I was fortunate enough to see it on two occasions; the first being on the opening night and the second towards the end of that time frame, on the 10th March. Because of this, I was really able to see how the cast had settled and adapted their roles since their first performance on opening night.
There is no pretending that Our Private Life will be to everyone’s taste. The main themes of the production include homosexuality and child sexual abuse, as well as incest. Although there are several hilarious moments, the play is generally dark as the weight of the rumour weighs down on the characters’ shoulders.
With fewer than ten rows of seats, the theatre itself is rather an intimate environment. The first row is no more than two metres away from the actual stage, giving the audience a feeling of deep involvement within the plot right from the start. In fact, at times, it feels almost invasive as the viewer is drawn into various scenes, such as when the character Carlos is placed under hypnosis by the rather eccentric psychiatrist.
The cast deliver both moving and passionate performances, each actor bringing their character alive, spurring the plot on with determination and speed.
Brothers Carlos and Sergio [played by Colin Morgan and Eugene O’ Hare] start off the play with a slightly heated telephone conversation. Carlos is described as a vegetarian, gay, ‘bipolar compulsive fantasist.’ In the first scene it may seem that Carlos envies older brother Sergio as he says almost bitterly, ‘I can’t do this on my own. You’re strong. You can help me. You’re the older brother, your wife’s pregnant, you earn good money, you’re intelligent, you don’t fancy men and you’re Catholic.’ However later on, when the psychiatrist [played by Adrian Schiller] states; ‘you’d have liked a life like his.’ Carlos responds; ‘I’m not sure any more. It’s risky, wanting to be like my brother.’ He then goes on to say; ‘it’s hard not knowing if you should be envying someone or not.’
The play continues in this manner as Carlos and Sergio desperately try to discover if they had been abused by their father [Anthony O’ Donnell] as children- is what Carlos claims true, or should the family dismiss it as a symptom of his fantasist behaviour? Mother [Ishia Bennison] fiercely defends her husband, but does she really believe in his innocence? Meanwhile, single mother and ex- employee of the Father, Tanya [Clare Cathcart] is confirming the rumour- that Sergio and Carlos’ father tried to sexually abuse her twelve year old son, Joaquín [Joshua Williams]- but what part does Joaquín play in this?
So who is telling the truth in this twisted web of lies? Family turn against each other, neighbours are at war and in the words of Carlos, ‘things aren’t as simple as they seem...'
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