4000 Miles at Minerva Theatre, Chichester: 'It's a joy... Go see it' | Review

Like its compatriot over the way in the Festival Theatre itself, Coward’s The Vortex, this is not a play with whopping-great chunks of plot to keep you edge-of-seated. Effectively, hippy-grandson visits communist grandmother in an attempt to reconcile himself with his feelings of loss – in different ways he’s lost his family, his best friend and his girlfriend – and, over the course of his stay with her, the two of them talk. That’s it. Pretty much.

And it’s a joy.

But then, take a look at the creatives both behind it and performing it. To begin with, Herzog’s script is pitch-perfect. Second, it’s directed by none other than Richard Eyre. Third, the whacky grandmother is played by Eileen Atkins. I could, I believe, successfully end this review right there. Those three things really are all you need to know. Go see it.

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But then there’s also Sebastian Croft who is wonderful as the emotionally-lost grandson, Leo. Both he and Atkins are rarely off the stage and the two of them power the piece and emotionally-charge it. The relationship is finely-crafted and eminently believable precisely because it’s not the kind of grandparent/grandchild relationship the majority of us have experienced. In particular there’s a joyous scene where the two of them smoke marijuana together; Atkins is largely silent during this but when she vocalizes her interpolations are laugh-out-loud funny. Her telephone-conversations with her neighbour are also masterpieces of comic delivery and timing.

Nell Barlow as Leo’s soon-to-be-ex girlfriend plays the stilted relationship well and Elizabeth Chu as a proposed one-night stand, Amanda, plays her one scene with gusto. That scene, whilst played principally for the comedy, also speaks of Leo’s isolation and his selfishness.

Peter McKintosh’s set is satisfying in the extreme (to me, at least; it bears a striking resemblance to my own living-room) and Eyre’s direction – very unsurprisingly – is wonderful.

It may be Daniel Evans’ last season at Chichester but it’s shaping up to be his best.

Until June 10.