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Closer

Written by Patrick Marber

April 23rd to May 2nd 2009

Directed by Andrew Caple

'Love and sex are like politics: it's not what you say that matters, still less what you mean, but what you do.'

Set in 90's contemporary London, Closer takes a cynical and painfully accurate look at relationships. Both romantic comedy and brutal analysis of modern love, it is a play about the kindness of strangers and the cruelty of desire. Don't miss an opportunity to see the original stage play of the award winning film - one of the best plays of the 1990s.

author play bench production

AuthorPatrick Marber

Patrick Marber was born in London in 1964. He was educated at Wadham College, Oxford before working as a stand-up comedian for a number of years and co-writing comedy programmes 'On The Hour' (Radio 4), 'The Day Today' (BBC2), 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' (Radio 4 and BBC2), and 'Paul and Pauline Calf's Video Diaries' (BBC2). His first play, Dealer's Choice, was first performed at the Royal National Theatre in 1995. He has also written Howard Katz and After Miss Julie (a reworking of the Strindberg play). More recently he has concentrated on screenplays; adapting his own Closer as well as screenplays for Notes on a Scandal and Asylum.

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PlayCloser

Both romantic comedy and brutal anatomy of modern love, Closer is a play about the kindness of strangers and the cruelty of desire. We laugh and cringe at the characters' attitudes towards sex and love as we follow Anna (a photographer), Alice (a stripper), Dan (an obituarist) and Larry (a dermatologist) - all involved in the 'body business' - over four and a half years through their experiences of marriage, adultery, jealousy, betrayal and revenge.

Closer comments on both genders with observational accuracy, 4 real characters with real and recognisable strengths and weaknesses. Alice manipulates men with her sexuality, while Anna intimidates them with her intelligence. And, as the women say, the men spend their whole lives having sex and never learn how to make love.

This play is an essential analysis of modern relationships. The balance of power continually shifts as reaction follows reaction. Like the Newton’s Cradle on Larry’s office desk, the four characters are bound by the law of physics (for every action, there is an equal an opposite reaction) - can't live together, can't live apart - each decision they make triggering an unwanted, yet predictable, response.

Closer is a work that gets under it's audience's skin; Often too close for comfort, it is not a play for the emotionally squeamish.

'There is no such thing as an honest relationship. The best you can hope for is an honest relationship with yourself'

The play was first performed in the National in May 1997, directed by Patrick Marber with Clive Owen (Dan), Liza Walker (Alice), Sally Dextor (Anna), and Ciaran Hinds (Larry). It was a Winner of the Olivier 'Best New Play', the Evening Standard 'Best New Comedy' and the Critics' Circle 'Best Play' awards.

The film version was released in 2004 staring with Jude Law (Dan), Natalie Portman (Alice), Clive Owen (Larry) and Julia Roberts (Anna). The film version is very true to the play, however the ending was changed following test screenings to better suit 'American sensibilities'.

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Newton's Cradle

The Bench Production

Characters

Dan - a man from the suburbsMartin McBride
Larry - a man from the cityNathan Chapman
Alice - a girl from the townCharlie Callaway
Anna - a woman from the countryAlice Corrigan

Crew

Director Andrew Caple
Producer David Penrose
Stage Manager Claire Lyne

Review: The shocking triumph of temptation

Bench Theatre's 40th anniversary 'State of the Nation' season continues with a look at life in the 90's with Patrick Marber's play Closer, subsequently a successful film starring Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, Clive Owen and Jude Law. This is a cynical look at complicated dishonest relationships involving two couples.

A young erotic dancer Alice is knocked down in the street and the obituary writer Dan, accompanies her to the hospital. She decides to love him but 12 months later Dan is attracted to an accomplished divorcee photographer – Anna. The randy dermatologist Larry, enters the scene (through a very entertaining session in a chatroom!) and he too falls for Anna. The play is set over an extended period as they continue to collide in chance meetings, yet despite Larry and Anna's marriage, the carnal attractions between the two couples continues. The needy Alice returns to her stripping and encounters Larry - and for a while they are together. The dialogue is raw, shocking and explicit with the incessant emotional fallout, along with all the lies, pain, deceit and recriminations they throw at each other. Ultimately the women seem the stronger but while Anna returns to Larry, the devastated Dan is left alone.

Director Andrew Caple, with a longheld ambition to direct the play, has triumphed with a brilliant production. Cleverly accommodating a dozen different venues using relevant images projected onto a large screen, and a minimum of props, his chosen players have done him justice. The foursome were superb in their very challenging complex emotionally charged roles. Martin McBride (Dan) gave a great performance as the reserved selfish frustrated writer initially so attracted to the young Alice and yet unable to control his desire for the more mature Anna. His scene in 'sexual cyberspace' with Nathan Chapman (Larry) was brilliant. Alice Corrigan (Anna) gave real depth to her portrayal of the photographer showing composure, control and strength as her emotions were laid bare. Nathan’s performance got stronger throughout as he swung from desire, anger, jealousy, revenge to the characteristic 'Alpha male'. The stunning Charley Calloway (Alice) gave a very skilful sparkling characterisation of the young alluring waif, incorporating her fragility, sexuality, resilience and disappointment.

This talented company can be guaranteed to give a first class show and this powerful gritty hard hitting piece is no exception ~ comes highly recommended.

Jill Lawrie, RemoteGoat.co.uk

Review: Closer

Does the character Anna really have all the best lines in Patrick Marber's play, or is it just that actor Alice Corrigan makes it seem so? Either way, she gives the finest performance I have seen from her, delivering her tartly comic putdowns with precision timing and inflection and often the most serene of smiles.

And crucially she also has a quality of stillness that is more expressive than any virtuoso display in portraying the painful vulnerability of all the play's four characters.

Closer has been chosen by Bench Theatre as its 'state of the nation' choice for the 1990s in its 40th anniversary season.

It deals in explicit terms with humanity's bodily and emotional needs, with matters of insecurity, jealousy and possessiveness, and with the lies we tell ourselves and the lies we tell others.

All the other three actors generally do a good job. Martin McBride catches both the uptight and the mischievous qualities in Dan; Charley Callaway is an engagingly minx-like Alice although not as painfully fragile as she should be; and Nathan Chapman even gives the unlikeable Larry a degree of charm. Yet ultimately only Ms Corrigan makes me really care what happens to her character.

The play's title is neatly reflected in the slides that announce every scene, portraying first the general location before moving in ever-closer, but the idea is over-played. A slicker, more fluid approach to scene-changes would give Andrew Caple's production more pace.

24 April 2009, Mike Allen, The News

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Rehearsal Photographs

The production photographs, taken by Dan Finch, are online at Flickr

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