JUNK (Greenwich Theatre)***

 

By Dave

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScWrPzW5wQA

Available until: Unknown

Junk was written in response to a one-word prompt for Greenwich Theatre’s Short Play Submission Sunday initiative. The prompt was Memories. The play is a conversation between a husband and wife. The husband has just been to pub (newly-opened after lockdown) and has got talking to a guy he kind of knows about memories.

The husband comes home filled with enthusiasm. You know how it is. You have a couple of pints and the next idea someone comes up with seems like the best idea of the century. We’ve all been there, mate. But… maybe this idea is worth thinking about. Whether it’s something you’d want to do or not, it does make you think about what you want from life.

The husband discusses the idea with his wife and she makes a few observations about the idea and they come to a decision about it. That’s all I feel I can say without giving the whole thing away – it’s only fourteen minutes.

The idea could be developed further – it could easily take the husband and wife much longer to come to the conclusion they eventually do. But of course, if you’re writing a Short Play Submission, you do need to keep it brief and that’s what writer Neil Sharman has done.

The husband and wife are played by Jack Fortescue and Natasha Oxley. I really liked the way they presented the couple’s relationship. The script was focused on the husband’s idea but the physical affection between them (nothing too heavy, it’s all very respectable) tells you a lot about them as a couple.

James Haddrell – the Artistic and Executive Director of the Greenwich Theatre - keeps the directing simple which I like. I think a lot of directors would have been tempted to have the characters wandering all over the room but instead they sit still and that keeps the focus on what is being said. I think the intimacy of the conversation makes the stillness absolutely right.