what the papers say
'First off the starting-block in Traverse Theatre festival programme for 2009 is a monologue, just 30 minutes long, by the Stockport writer Simon Stephens, first fleetingly glimpsed at the Bush in London last year. It's a delicate wisp of a thing, like a curl of cigarette-smoke exhaled in a moment of mournful reverie. After contact with it, sure enough, your eyes are welling up, and you're starting to choke...
...The delight of this solo, directed by George Perrin, is also two-fold. First, there's the quality of Stephens's writing, which has a rich feel for the embarrassments, detours, short-cuts and comic self-deprecations of everyday speech. But holding it together is a pitch-perfect performance from the actor Andrew Scott, telling the tale to his audience directly, on a bare stage, under the most basic lighting. He's charming and casual, groping for the right words - building up a picture for us of a photographer who's been blessed with the woman of his dreams and a beautiful young daughter. His father-in-law, with his house in the South of France, gives the family a gateway to sun-soaked afternoons by the Mediterranean. Who should Alex thank for this bounty? Not God in heaven, surely - he doesn't believe in any of that. And yet when things go horribly wrong - who, then, can he turn to? From something quite shallow, superficial, even smug in its tone, this heart-on-sleeve confessional suddenly launches us into a flux of profound, unanswerable questions. It's good to be thrown in at the deep end like this, on day one.'
FOUR STARS
The Daily Telegraph (Read full review)
'Andrew Scott's performance is brilliant.'
FIVE STARS
The Financial Times (Read full review)
'Beautifully realised.'
The Herald (Read full review)
One of the most devastating 30 minutes you are ever likely to experience in the theatre...
...The extraordinary power of Sea Wall is that it is concerned with both the domestic and the majestic. 'Why?' is the unspoken question that resonates around the theatre.'
FOUR STARS
The Guardian.co.uk (Read full review)
'Engaging and devestating...packs an enormous emotional punch'
FOUR STARS
Independent (Read full review)
'Electrifyingly superb...a stagger-ingly harrowing piece of writing and a superlative production. Not to be missed.'
Independent on Sunday (Read full review)
'If you want to see the small but perfectly formed in all its glory, look no further than Simon Stephens's Sea Wall, first seen at the Bush last year. Performed with devastating intensity by Andrew Scott, this monologue is an exquisitely written and moving account of the fragility of our existence and how the good life can suddenly turn bad without warning.'
The Guardian (Read full review)