Acorn at The Courtyard Theatre Review
Acorn, Maud Dromgoole’s new play, is based on two of Greek mythology’s most enigmatic women, thrusting them together in the present day setting of a London hospital.
Persephone (Queen of the Underworld) and Eurydice (who Orpheus tried to bring back from the dead) are reimagined as an over-worked doctor and a patient respectively, exploring their parallel and contrasting fates. The play subtly alludes to topical issues like the under-funding of mental health, shown through two differing perspectives caught up in the same system.
Persephone, played with astute comic timing by Deli Segal, is increasingly exhausted and cynical about her career and life in general. Her patient Eurydice is the polar opposite, quickly veering between being child-like and endearing, to erratic and unstable. Lucy Pickles brings her to life with an excellently judged physical performance. The two actresses play off each other instinctively, bringing much comedy to a play which could be in danger of being too sombre.
This play leaves the audience to decipher the meaning of certain absurdist elements, like the recurring voice-over of two tree surgeons or the video montages, which are used to excellent effect. This play has a surrealist tone possibly influenced by Beckett’s Waiting for Godot or Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, and it is more intriguing than baffling.
Acorn is imaginatively staged and directed, has a well-paced script and boasts two first-rate central performances. If you like theatre with a twinge of the absurd, this is worth a watch.
Acorn runs at The Courtyard Theatre until 29th October. Tickets can be purchased here
Written by Martin Stocks | @Stocks1986
