An open buerau and a shelf packed with books and tapes adorn this old fashioned office, the feeling of it being of a time in the recent past, the turntable adding to this. It is the consultancy room of Dr Feldmann, a psychiatrist, where Stephanie Abrahams, a brilliant concert violinist once at the top of her game, will enter in her motorised wheelchair, having developed MS, taking away her ability to play the music she loves. Over the course of a number of sessions we see the mental struggle, moving through anger into despair, trying to come to terms with her position. Tom Kempinsky's 1980 play worked its way from the fringe to the West End, before being made into a film starring Julie Andrews and Max von Sydow, the arc of the main character based loosely on the life of cellist Jacqueline du Pre, here in the form of Stephanie Abrahams, with the action staying firmly in the Doctor's room, played in Dan O'Mahony's production by Brenda Larby and Mick Shanley.
It is Feldman we see first, turning off the music playing in the background as he awaits the ringing of the doorbell and the arrival of Abrahams. Quickly we are told about the condition by a matter of fact Abrahams, stoicly accepting her condition and all the things she will do instead, taking on students to teach them all she knows and being her composer husband's secretary. Larby has to play from the confines of the chair, her voice clear and clipped, sitting upright, which will change in tone and stance as the evening develops. Larby does show the physicality of MS well through the 'foot drop' or steppage gait, as described in the programme notes, a reason for Abrahams' falling randomly.
Opposite her is the calming, soft spoken, German accented Doctor in Shanley, something that works well in an intimate venue, not something you might get away with in a lager auditorium. Using questions, silences and the immediate prescription of drugs, Shanley's Docotor comes over as a fan as much as a professional. His role feels more like the facilitator, as it would be in the real relationship, something Kempinksy wanted to show at the time; the silences feeling real more than dramatic. Both actors work well together creating an interesting duo, combative in moments.
The dialogue rich piece moves at a steady pace, feeling almost documentary in a way as we observe the client/Doctor role as it unfolds, while at the same time getting the back story of Abrahams, the focus on her, as it all feels an oasis in Louise O'Bryne's consulting room set, while Abrahams deteriotion is shown through gradually more stains on her clothes and uprightness in the chair; Larby finding a way to convey this without pounding out the idea or being sentimental. Her mood dipping as the realisation of her reality sets in.In the end, it is an intriguing play, that is both a journey a much as a story, played well and ably by Shanley and Larby, honing it right for the intimate venue while never feeling over long and showing the terribleness of her condition, how it effects her physically, but mostly a deep look at the emotional impact on herself, and her life with a classical acting feel to it.
Runs until Jan 10th 2015