FOUR stars
RELATIONSHIPS are
fragile things and a play by Marguerite Duras now on at the Young Vic
shows this beautifully.
La Musica features
Michel and Anne-Marie, who meet four years after they split up to
finalise their divorce.
They meet in a hotel in
a French town where they used to live and the tension is all too
palpable.
We first see the pair
high above the audience, sitting next to each other on a bench, backs
to the audience looking out of a window.
We see their faces on
huge screens and listen to them as they talk about their
relationship, from how they met through to how and when they parted
company. Half way through their reminiscences, they come down and sit
on chairs around which the audience sit or stand.
It gets more intense
and not just because we are so close to them. As they move about
within and amongst us, we hear about their hopes and dreams when they
were in the relationship, how they couldn’t live together and
seemingly can’t live apart either.
We find out about their
affairs, how Michel wanted to kill Anne-Marie and how she has since
met someone else. As the truth comes out, old wounds are re-opened,
grievances once thought forgotten resurface and old feelings
re-awaken.
They flirt, fight and
spar verbally and dance around the subject of love. Were they ever in
love or was it a destructive relationship, or one of convenience.
It is heartbreaking,
claustrophobic, emotional, powerful, raw and ultimately very sad.
Sam Troughton and Emily
Barclay are incredible as the former lovers in what is a fabulous
piece.
La Musica is on at the
Young Vic, The Cut, until October 17. Tickets from £10. Visit
www.youngvic.org or call the box office on 020 7922 2922.
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