BARNES’ PEOPLE: LOSING MYSELF (Original Theatre Online/Perfectly Normal Productions/Theatre Royal Windsor)****

 

By Cal 

Link for Losing Myself: https://originaltheatreonline.com/productions/16/barnes-people-losing-myself-starring-matthew-kelly

Link for complete series: https://originaltheatreonline.com/productions/14/barnes-people-complete-series 

Available until: 31^st July 2021

Losing Myself is the final monologue in the set of four that were recorded and released by Original Theatre Online. It’s been a fascinating series and one thing that has stood out is that they’re actually not that dramatic. There is certainly drama, but it’s not of the kind you get in soap operas. It’s not all affairs and fist fights. There’s nothing hugely controversial or taboo. It’s just four relatively ordinary people speaking about an aspect of their lives – and it’s great.

A lot of modern writers seem to be trying to outdo each other in the drama stakes. It seems that their main aim is to shock their reader and they very often succeed, but perhaps that’s not what we need all the time. There are other ways of creating entertainment and holding an audience’s attention. Peter Barnes’ monologues remind of this.

Matthew Kelly stars in Losing Myself, playing Adams, a doctor. He’s sitting on a bench on the stage, an image projected behind him to suggest that he is outdoors. As Adams speaks, he reveals he is in a graveyard, talking to a grave which belongs to somebody named Maurice. At first, it seems like a nice, friendly thing to do. Although Maurice might not be able to hear him, it is nice that someone is acknowledging him.

But there is more to the monologue than that. It’s about endings. The end of the graveyard. The end of life. The end of many things. Adams is closer to the end of his life than to the beginning and that’s something which is on his mind. He talks about the things he’s lost; the things he will lose in the future. It’s a rather quiet, gentle monologue on the surface, but it’s very poignant.

Philip Franks directs Losing Myself. The sense of quietness and stillness he’s created is striking and there’s an incredible moment at the end. I don’t want to say what it is, but it’s not something you’d often see on a stage. It’s done so well and it’s a powerful moment which goes on for exactly the right amount of time.

Matthew Kelly is very likeable as Adams, addressing Maurice as he might an old friend and making many interesting observations on various subjects. Slowly, he introduces the idea that perhaps this is actually a bit more than a friendly chat to a gravestone. Although you won’t necessarily agree with everything Adams says, Matthew projects a strong sense of his character’s intelligence and his capacity to think deeply. It’s always a relief to see that in a doctor, even a fictional one.

It’s sad to see this series come to an end and there’s no suggestion, as far as I’m aware, that Original Theatre will film the other eleven monologues, but it’s definitely something we’d be very interested in seeing.