Parallel Lines, Dirty Protest

Dirty Protest have reworked what was already a good play into a great one. The strength of this production is its simplicity of staging with such a complex subject. The play weighs in on a very weighty familiar setting: the accusation of a teacher’s advances on his 15-year-old student. Whether these accusations hold true or not, as Julia (Sara Lloyd-Gregory) plainly puts it, s**t sticks.

In partnership with Chapter, Dirty Protest present an intense but very funny script, telling the story of a 15 year-old girl, Steph (Lowri Palfrey) whose diary is found with tales of her romance with Simon (Gareth Pierce), her 30 year-old teacher. The setting for the evening is split between the homes of Simon and his wife Julia, and Steph and her perpetually hung-over mother, Melissa (Jan Anderson).

In the former we see the strains on a relationship when living with an accusation of this nature despite whatever may be true. As paranoia and questions creep in the tensions build into a jarring climax. In the home we see Melissa, hung over, not knowing what time of day it is as she tries to spring up conversation with her despondent daughter. As the investigation into what happens begins she is keen that no more trouble comes to her door.

The style of this production has an eerie physicality to it, as at times it feels as if you are watching it in slow motion adding to the palpable tensions on stage. The compositions that director, Catherine Paskell, creates are positively photographic and some of the images may haunt you as you feel the pain of the characters piercing through the pictures.

All the performances are excellent in this. Jan Anderson as Melissa gives us the tonic we need throughout with her cutting humour slicing through the tension that without her may be too much to bear.  She plays opposite the brilliantly teenage performance of Lowri Palfrey, as Steph, who plays her role as a combination of reflecting, and rebelling against, her mother.

Gareth Pierce’s turn as Simon is truly complex. He masterfully shows the arch of decline of his character through the utter torment this situation has brought. However it is Sara Lloyd-Gregory as Julia that steals the night as the wife of the accused. She plays this impossible position of walking a tightrope between what may be truth and what may be lies with great conviction and complexity.

The design (Signe Beckmann) too is quite considered and works well with the physical nature of the production.  It is a reduced set of their previous run in 2013 and now allows more of the action to speak for itself. We are also treated to the eeriest of soundscapes (Dan Lawrence) throughout which is at times stomach churning. This is married with a very clever lighting design (Joe Fletcher) that create a hue over the production that straddles a hazy dream likened to a state you might find yourself in after lives more traumatic events.

Paskell has shown a singular vision here that has aided Chandler’s complex script to thrive. What she has staged here is excellent. I do, however, question if the final scene is needed. I think it is worth considering leaving the audience with an ambiguity to problematize the circumstances within the play even further. This is of course does not take away from the questions that have been raised already in the play to this point but it might work towards making the story within more complicated.

An extremely thought provoking production skillfully executed.