SCENES FROM A FRIENDSHIP by Jane Upton is a play suckled on the nipple of nostalgia. The weaning is protracted and thereafter the milk of memory tends to curdle.
Billy and Jess meet in primary school forty years ago. They bond immediately over their shared desire to become actors. Their passion for theatrics sustains their relationship through secondary school. It remains a platonic relationship and not just because Billy is gay. Their “fancies” don’t coincide with each other, but they do confide on their fantasies both romantic and career wise.
At school’s end, they are thrown into the real world. Billy’s thespian ambition seems to be on a better trajectory than Jess’. Soon enough, both yearned for careers stall. Billy finds employment as an agent, Jess finds her voice as a writer.
The play’s dialogue seems to be deliberately and explicitly flat, concerned with the conflict between rejection, routine and compromise. The most stinging aspect is Jess’s failure as a breeder while Billy, through surrogacy, is intent on increasing his brood.
Director Craig Baldwin’s set design comprises basically of boxes marked up as compartments of the couple’s lives but very few are opened. It’s an irritating tease with an expectation that a pair with theatrical flair might spring the contents on stage and make play.
While the words are physically unexciting to listen to, the performers, Thomas Campbell as Billy and Ainslie McGlynn as Jess, give their characters gusto. They plough an infertile field of generality and produce some sustenance.
The title of the play gives a hint of what to expect. SCENES FROM A FRIENDSHIP proffers up glimpses of an enduring pact, vignettes of amicability and estrangement, solidarity and disappointment, but conspires to create disassociation and disengagement with the story.
What pearls there are do not have the dramatic string to form a charming narrative necklace. As universal as the theme of friendship is, SCENES FROM A FRIENDSHIP is very English and some audiences may struggle with some references. Brush up your Britbox.
