Rosie Lockhart and Ben Prendergast in Dead Centre/Sea Wall; photo Jodie Hutchinson
On its surface Dead Centre/Sea Wall could be mistakenly seen as simplistic. Two scenes, two performers and two stories on an almost empty stage but in truth it is anything but. Rosie Lockhart and Ben Prendergast are sublime in this gripping exploration of how two ordinary people cope with the most devastating of losses.
Saying more about what this loss is would be like trying to extract a splinter with a pair of plyers. A single, ham-fisted sentence, though accurate, would fail miserably to fully describe Dead Centre/Sea Wall. It needs a more precise and gentle touch to reach into the invisible wound it speaks of.
To Alex (Prendergrast) the wound is more real, a hole in his physical being, that he tries desperately to expose because he needs it to be understood. He feels the absence acutely but seems self-conscious about it in a way that makes his story a plea for recognition as much as understanding. Prendergrast tells Alex’s story masterfully and from his first word in an earnest brogue, there is not only a willing suspension of disbelief but a real desire to wait for Alex at the theatre’s back door to comfort him as he leaves. In Alex’s story Simon Stephens shows once more why he is counted among the best contemporary writers of theatre. His ability to jump around in the narrative so smoothly while maintaining authenticity of character and flow of plot is truly impressive. These two outstanding acts stand out as a special combination of writing and performance.
This is to take nothing away from Lockhart and Tom Holloway. Helen’s story of escape is one that has an echo in the mind of every one of us. The appeal of a fresh start, the romanticism of just dropping everything to go ‘away’ and perhaps the salvation from a home that feels like an inexorable path to unhappiness. The irony of this is visible in the vast numbers of people from both Australia and the British Isles who make the same trip in opposite directions. Helen brings us the reality of that escape, the difficulty of re-establishing home and how problems have a way of following us wherever we go. Where Alex would put his still beating heart permanently on his sleeve, Helen tries desperately to maintain a very English stiff upper lip, but her past remains simmering below the surface. It always visible, but only just, and Lockhart’s control of it is what makes this performance shine.
These two stories are beautifully staged, with understated but powerful glimpses of the past emerging from the background and creating a haunting ambience. There is no moment, word or image waisted in Dead Centre/Sea Wall. It’s beautiful, yet ephemeral and as a result manages, with its final image to impart a sense of loss that lingers long after you’ve left your seat.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Dead Centre/Sea Wall
By Tom Holloway and Simon Stephens
Directed by Julian Meyrick
Cast: Rosie Lockhart and Ben Prendergast
Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre, St Kilda
17 July – 15 August
