The Silence of Snow, The Old Red Lion

By L.Darrall

One man shows seem to be dominating the theatrical landscape at the moment; with hits like Hightide’s Bottleneck and Clara Brennan’s Spinetaking Edinburgh by storm this Summer, I went into The Silence of Snow with high expectations and a want to be challenged. Unfortunately that did not happen and it was the subject matter that was to blame. Where ‘Bottleneck’ and ‘Spine’ called out to the hearts of audience and screamed relevance, The Silence of Snow, a biopic about little known writer Patrick Hamilton’s decline into alcoholism and depression left me cold.

If the piece had dealt more sensitively and thoroughly with the struggles inherent with mental illness then it would have instantly have spoken to the audience; however, it became an ode to the novelist, his catalogue of women and his canon of work with depression being clumsily covered in a couple of lines. I found myself wondering why I was watching it; there was a touch of the Stephen Ward about it, Lloyd-Webber’s recent musical about a long forgotten political scandal of the 1960’s, both interesting stories, both slightly archaic and both irrelevant to today.

That said there were lovely, witty moments in the writing; a favourite of the audience’s being, “You know the two different types of sex, having sex at someone and having sex with someone.” A knowing ripple of laughter chased itself round the Old Red Lion.

Mark Farrelly as writer and performer strove through with unwavering energy and conviction; however, the melodramatic nature of the language meant that the character was unlikeable and seemed Bond villain-esque.

And then we come to the women… Or lack thereof. They were present within the story but dealt with in such a two dimensional, flimsy manner that they may as well have not been there at all. Farrelly’s characterisations of every single female part were mincing and caricatured. In a week where Emma Watson has stood up for women AND men throughout the globe in a fight to bring feminism into the positive forefront of thought and mind, it was the wrong week to watch this play. It quite simply made me cross.

The Silence of Snow had the potential to be a brave piece of theatre about one man’s struggles with fame, alcoholism and depression; however, unfortunately this time I would have preferred the silence.

** The Old Red Lion 25th September- 11th October @PostScriptJour

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