Asymmetry: Actors and audience let down by script
Emotional roller-coaster: Julius and Priscilla (Devinda de Silva and Celine Cramer. Pic by Sameera Weerasekera
Directed by Neidra Williams and Jehan Bastians, and performed by their theatre company, Silent Hands, at the Stables, Park Street, ‘Asymmetry’ is a play by Rick Robinson which focuses on three couples whose stories of love and intimacy all come together on one stage. Utilising only six actors (a combination of theatre veterans and relative newcomers) the show tried to deal with the different facets of relationships like nostalgia and resentment.
Mohamed Adamaly and Neidra Williams play Miguel and Sandy. Both were involved way back when Sandy was a student and Miguel her teacher, but now after many years it transpires Miguel has pancreatic cancer and Sandy comes back, wondering if there is a possibility of a reunion. Alternatively, Julius (Devinda de Silva) and Priscilla (Celina Cramer) are just starting out having met in an online poker chat room. Priscilla has some facial scarring which affects her confidence and as a result is very insecure and nervous around Julius who tries his best to make her feel comfortable. Maggie and Cody (Michelle Herft and Shanaka Amarasinghe) on the other hand are more forward with each other and have bonded over the fact they’ve both got herpes.
All couples start off by seemingly discussing nothing but bit by bit the layers come off exposing their insecurities, whether it’s Sandy’s claims of Miguel’s infidelity or Maggie’s own ruminations about love. The set was simple and did its job of being that link between all the couples, playfully interlocking their stories as they moved about onstage. However, I think at times the cast had the capacity to overact, particularly in the case of Priscilla and Julius whose nervousness and awkwardness was compounded with a lot of exaggerated movements. This was also the case for Maggie whose anger and swearing felt slightly fake – it’s perhaps how you would assume nerves and fury appear but in actual fact it’s less dramatic. I don’t think it was helped by the fact that the actors changed their moods at an alarming rate without any build-up to it– one minute Maggie’s telling Cody to leave (in slightly more colourful terms) but within 4 seconds is hugging and begging him to stay. I think the exception to this was Mohammed Adamalywho did a convincing job of switching from stoic to spiteful without the character arc being too much of a shock.
Technically there were some missteps. In one instance – and I don’t know whether this was a conscious decision or genuine lighting mishap – the lighting for Julius and Priscilla would suddenly inexplicably change to a blue night light and then back into a normal warm wash when the script didn’t really call for it. Furthermore, the sound was linked to hanging mics which did not always pick up what everyone was saying. This left it up to the actors to project as much as possible but when they were talking softly it was a struggle to hear them.
Ultimately, most of the play’s problems boil down to the fact it’s a very weak script. It is unfortunately loaded with too many platitudes (“You said there was no one else in the world like me”) which neither have substance to them neither do they merit any inclusion in the script. In general the depiction of women in this play is frankly disappointing. I felt myself getting progressively angrier at Priscilla who believes she is the sum of her looks and constantly turns to Julius for validation – it is also highly condescending to assume that facial scarring is something people cannot cope with, especially women. Sandy is amiable but has decidedly devoted herself to taking care of Miguel who turns out to be malicious which makes you question why she ever came back to him in the first place. Maggie is by the far the most difficult character in the play to decode because her emotions are so volatile. It’s almost like she’s being punished for being sexually assertive and wanting something different to Cody whose character is played off as normal and chivalrous against hers.
I think I wanted more time to delve into the characters’ inner psyche but the play concluded quite abruptly and with no resolve for Miguel who finds out he is the father of Maggie and Julius but refuses to do anything about it. Maggie in turn never resolves her own story with Cody. The only couple with an actual ending are Julius and Priscilla who were classmates in high school with the latter subjecting the former to a cruel prank. Julius later found her online and snooped through her emails and private life and while this is incredibly complicated and creepy they are strangely the only couple in the play who end up together which I find slightly implausible.
A lot of effort had gone into this production, no doubt about it and Silent Hands remains at the forefront of theatre companies that always strives to produce good art. But the actors were cruelly let down by a weak script that did nothing to challenge them or the audience and it is quite a shame – here’s hoping for their next production though.