Puritanical and Stark: Enduring Song, Southwark Playhouse

By Helena Payne

I've been in two minds about this show since seeing it last week. Illness and other responsibilities took precedence over writing my review and considering the mauling it was given by other publications I thought, what was the point of adding my voice to the melee. Then I thought, such a lot of effort went into this production by a markedly young company and there were fantastic moments and performances that deserve to be given their due.

I cannot contest that Enduring Song at The Southwark Playhouse was too long and there were some serious technical and directorial discrepancies, but these do not devalue the shimmering performances of Emma Ballantine and several others. Jesse Briton, the leader of Bear Trap Theatre has taken a very difficult context, the first crusades, and one that does not resonate comfortably with a modern audience. Some rather orientalist portrayals of other’d Muslims that would have Edward Said turning in his grave are the least of this play’s problems. The plot is meandering without meaning and the characters go on personal journeys either written too extremely to be believed, or in some cases not performed convincingly enough to invest in. Regardless, what has Enduring Song added to the theatrical landscape?

I very much enjoyed the style of the piece, it was puritanical and stark; the stage was bare, (perhaps for trapping?) and a giant gold cross loomed, suspended in the gloaming as we sat on four sides waiting for the production to start. The short scenes wove together gracefully, the stage was never empty and the actors’ sense of urgency and dynamism kept momentum up through the convoluted plot. There was lovely choral singing and humming that underscored the action. However, for those of us familiar with Latin psalms, the choices sometimes felt incongruous given the subjects of the scenes. There was good costume design from Clare Amos; rough and homespun material in primary colours created strong visuals especially when all of the plentiful cast were on stage.

The performances were uneven in quality. As I mentioned Emma Ballantine is a gem of a performer, she begins as a selective mute in the first half of the play, but conveys more with her eyes, gesticulations and presence than many of the other actors manage in monologues. Her transformation from defeated yet capricious little sister to firebrand defender of her family’s farm is compelling to watch. As she wrestles with the legacy of her mother’s death, her father’s oppression, brother’s desertion and impossible expectations we genuinely empathise and invest in her story. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of other cast members, who may have been desperately tired, but offered a real lesson in doing your warm-ups and looking after your voice. In the cavernous Southwark Playhouse and utterly exposed in the round there were some real technical failures. Vocally, some actors mumbled and bellowed with no breathing connection meaning many moments in the complex plot were lost to complete inaudibility. They commit the cardinal sin of acting which is the very arrogant supposition of, “if I’m feeling it, surely the audience are?” To that I answer, “I only wish that were so.” Edward Grace as the dignified Godfrey and Alex Harland as the conflicted Bishop of Amiens delivered some very strong and mercifully measured performances.

The tussle between Matthew and George, the two adventure seeking young men who desert their families to answer a call to “stop Jerusalem from falling,” poses questions on what it takes to become a killer. The real experience of war and conflict is presented with the absolute brutality it demands which jars with their boyish ideals and dreams of glory. On reaching Jerusalem and enjoying the hospitality of some charming but caricatured Muslim inhabitants they realise that things are not as simple and clear-cut as they first thought. I suppose parallels can be drawn with the tragic number of young Muslim men responding to situations now in the Middle East and taking their Jihad from Cardiff to Syria and beyond but it feels clumsy and misguided. The plot also grazes on topics such as how much of becoming a killer is innate and how much is the effect of context and experience, but doesn’t seem to draw any meaningful conclusions.

It is inconsistent how the piece oscillates wildly between dense text punctuated with shards of bawdy light relief. Somewhat reminiscent in vibe to Ken Follett’s epic Pillars of the Earth series, perhaps the story would do better given the space in the form of a novel. In truth, as a play it did not really work. I am sure it will capture the imagination of the Game of Thrones audience but really there is little magic in this production. In the prologue, George asks, “Is it possible that a man can have two hearts?” When it comes to this production, I am in two hearts; I saw a huge amount of laudable and enjoyable work, but not enough to offset the major issues with this hugely ambitious project. Jesse Briton is clearly a writer of note; his characters can be complex and vivid but the piece needed more editing. It is so important that brave young companies have the opportunity to work in venues of the repute like The Southwark Playhouse to share their work with a wider audience and I look forward to seeing more considered work from the Bear Trap Company and Jesse Briton in the future.

Enduring Song, Southwark Playhouse, 11th June-5th July. Info and tickets here.

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