The Pride, The Spring, Havant, REVIEW: 'A play of great depth, great humour and great humanity'

My experience of Stuart Reilly has been limited to seeing him in a couple of Bench productions and my view of the man is that he’s a mighty fine actor.It turns out he’s a blindingly good director, too, as Bench’s latest - Alexei Kaye Campbell’s The Pride – proves very nicely.
The Bench Theatre Company in rehearsal for The Pride, which is at The Spring Arts Centre in Havant, September 18-21, 2019The Bench Theatre Company in rehearsal for The Pride, which is at The Spring Arts Centre in Havant, September 18-21, 2019
The Bench Theatre Company in rehearsal for The Pride, which is at The Spring Arts Centre in Havant, September 18-21, 2019

A cast of four tell parallel stories occurring in 1958 and 2008 – stories of prejudice and loss and fear and self-loathing and – ultimately – the redemptive powers of understanding and love.

Don’t get me wrong – this is no preachy, nauseating claptrap, but a play of great depth, great humour and great humanity.

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All of the cast contribute but particular praise goes to Craig Parker and Robin Hall. These performances tower throughout, but their Act 2 scene, from the 1950s’ section and set in a park, is beautiful and breathtaking. Effectively a monologue by Hall with Parker adding the odd interjection but otherwise stood, silent, dying inside as she – tenderly and with love – tears his life apart.

As their lover, Christopher Davey gives a gut-wrenching rendition of a man revolted by his own existence and his scene with Chris Vanstone as an aversion-therapy doctor is deeply disturbing.

Vanstone is particularly versatile with his three characters being nicely differentiated.

Be warned - the language is strong – as strong as the English language can get – and, occasionally, the onstage action is very uncomfortable.

But if you’re prepared to cope with that in a piece of theatre – book your seats now.

One not to miss.

Until Saturday.

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