Wet House

‘Wet House’ – a place where homeless alcoholics can have a roof over their heads and some small sense of family while continuing to drink themselves blind. Not a palatable concept, and confronting to those who prefer to think of alcoholics as faceless aberrations in another time and place. Paddy Campbell worked in such a place and has drawn on his experiences for this, his first play. Parts of it work brilliantly.

Andy, a young university graduate, takes the job as a carer simply for the money, but it almost destroys him when the senior worker bashes one of the “residents.”

With a cast of six, including 3 guest actors, Red Stitch once again offers edgy drama with moments of superb theatre, and elements which too often are overlooked in productions. The set is simply brilliant, stripping back the shed theatre to its bare bones, creating corridors and a camera surveillance system which gives the illusion of a huge rabbit-warren building. Kudos to Sophie Woodward for this brilliantly executed vision. Caroline Lee (Helen) is not only a superb actress, full of understated truth, but during the interval she creates the most astonishing makeup for the badly bashed paedophile Spencer (Dion Mills) which is frightening to look at, even at close quarters.

Mills is his usual impressive self, but this performance has a fragility I haven’t seen from him before. He is heartbreaking as the man, albeit reprehensible, who is terrified to stay, but has nowhere else to go.

David Whitely (Mike) is always a powerful presence on stage and is suitably brutish and menacing when needed, but he seems undecided whether his character is essentially a decent man who snaps, or a vicious bully who seizes every opportunity to be a bastard. For much of the first act he seemed unsettled, with frequent glances to the back of the auditorium, and a performance too big for the space, especially against the subtlety of Lee’s Helen. However, it was opening night, and nerves are unpredictable.

Nicholas Bell brings his wealth of experience to give a beautifully rounded performance as Dinger, a man who has lost his family because of his drinking and hit rock bottom, only to be offered an unexpected second chance – and Paul Ashcroft (Andy) as the young innocent slowly dragged in to a downward spiral is impressive in the second act especially.

But the acting honours go to the wonderful Anna Sampson. Her portrayal of Kerry, the pregnant alcoholic teenager who is forced to relinquish her baby, is gut-wrenching and incredibly moving. Sampson inhabits the lost girl’s skin and forces us to confront the tragedy of youth who are past saving. It’s a stellar performance that is so real it makes us squirm in our seats.

The niggling doubts I have about the play all stem from Brett Cousins direction. Cousins, himself a very good actor, seems to have directed performances individually rather than within the overall arc of the play. Whilst it is an ensemble piece, it has a very clear “hero’s journey” at its core. We see the Wet House through Andy’s eyes – an innocent who loses sight of why he is there and almost becomes an alcoholic like those he cares for. If we don’t see that disintegration, that downward spiral from abhorrence to acceptance; and understand that Andy (unlike the residents) still has enough strength left to make the choice and get out, away from Mike’s power and influence, then the play has no purpose, no resolution. And we don’t see it clearly enough for us to connect. The play is focussed on Mike – and Andy is a peripheral character, even subtextually. It’s understandable, because Mike is the most forceful of the characters; but without that arcing journey, the play suffers and fizzles in its dying moments. There is also the director’s choice to play most of the first act for obvious laughs. Yes, it is a darkly comic play – but the funny lines should be played for real within that world, not aimed at the audience as gags with a pause for the laugh and the Boom-tish of a cymbal.

Those misgivings aside, this is a far more entertaining and thought – provoking production than almost anything you are likely to see on a Main Stage this year, and an excellent night of theatre overall. It just doesn’t reach the Halcyon Heights of some of last year’s offerings.

Coral Drouyn

Images: David Whiteley; Dion Mills & Nicholas Bell; Nicholas Bell & Anna Samson.

Photographer: Jodie Hutchinson