The dramatic canvas for William Nicholson’s ‘The Retreat from Moscow’ is a marital breakdown. Edward (Norman Coburn) and Alice (Sandy Gore) have been married for 33 years. Edward is a history teacher, happy with doing his daily crossword and engrossed in a book about Napoleon’s invasion of Moscow. Alice is collecting poems about lost love for a new anthology. Jamie (Ben Ager), their son, is visiting the family home for the weekend when Edward announces that he has fallen in love with another woman.
Mark Kilmurry put together an accomplished production for the Ensemble Theatre Company, steering the play well from the feint strains of marital disquiet at the beginning through to the play’ uneasy resolution. The action of the play was set in the couple’s living room, designed by Gordon Burns, and lit by Matthew Marshall.
A fine cast brought Nicholson’s melancholic story to life. Ben Agers’s Jamie was the dutiful son caught in the crossfire between his parents, trying to be helpful and neutral.
Norman Coburn’s Edward was a vivid portrayal. He portrayed a bookish, self centered man. Something about him was out of touch, removed from reality, like when he announced to Jamie he was leaving Alice, and asks his to stay the weekend with his mum to calm her down, and then everything would settle down. As if…
The night however belonged to Sandy Gore’s performance as Alice. This was such a finely tuned, emotional performance. Here was the archetypal left woman, unable to let go, fighting in any way she can to get her husband back.