Review: A SLOW FIRE at Jermyn Street Theatre

Blurring the lines between reality and fiction, to pass the time the pair contrive to entertain and distract one another. It serves to stave-off the inevitable, inexorable insanity which such a scenario would induce. Ashton and Reece (Ross Gaynor and Ian Toner respectively) play-out scenes of hope from their pre-disaster memories. However, the catastrophe which has befallen mankind, itself remains sketchily drawn and vaguely referenced as though it were a dirty family secret. Intermittently, there are references to map-drawing and the inclusion is used as a representation (to the pair and to us), that human ingenuity and learning don’t necessarily have to be irrevocably lost to societal disintegration, but it proves a weak metaphor.

The laboured set-up includes a semi-tragic slow-dance to The Ink Spots’ post war harmony ballad When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano. It gently alludes to affection between the men who each had somewhat dysfunctional family lives, pre-cataclysm. Towards the end of the first half, two separate visitations confirm that other people are ‘out there’ and there is a strong indication that they are unlikely to be wholesome or trustworthy. Mary (Holly Demaine) rants a list of all the things which burned, and in so doing, preludes the ominous arrival of Presley (Fionn Ó Loingsigh) whose unsettling vibe adds a much needed energy boost to the grinding narrative of the play which is directed with minimal ingenuity by Rex Ryan.

The sequence of patchy vignettes — the end to each of which is signified by a black-out — never quite coalesces into a satisfying or revealing whole. And the several revelations neither reflect well on the characters’ pasts, nor suggest a bright future for those who remain. Ultimately, too many questions were left unanswered or wrapped in obfuscation and I felt a gradual disengagement from the material. I wished I’d felt more for the characters’ plight, but in truth, I’d stopped caring long before I reached the tube station.

A Slow Fire runs 2 hours and 15 mins including interval and plays at Jermyn Street Theatre until 26th September.

Jermyn Street Theatre Tickets