Leaves Of Glass...

Me and the Missus went see Leaves Of Glass by Philip Ridley at Soho Theatre on Friday.

I saw Ridley talk at a writers’ seminar a few months ago and I liked him a lot. He was urbane, witty and very approachable. He’s also an artist and a photographer and he uses his visual output to influence his literary one.

The show also marked the directorial debut by Soho’s new artistic director Lisa Goldman, formerly of the Red Room, so I was looking forward to it.

The play tells the story of a successful businessman and his artist brother who are both haunted by a horrible secret from their past, a secret they both have to face and exorcise so they can move forward in their lives and their relationships.

Ben Wishaw and Trystan Gravelle play the warring siblings with Gravelle giving the stronger performance out of the two with weaker material. Maxine Peake is funny and generally OK as the businessman’s wife and Ruth Sheen does an at-times moving comedy turn as the boys’ mother.

It’s a touching and spooky piece and the second half where everything starts to get explained is definitely more satisfying that the first where the central conflicts are set up.

There are some beautifully written sections in it, too, and some very strong images but I wasn’t sure whether the good bits were good enough to carry the less-good bits.

It’s still worth a look, though.