Theatre review: Grud

After being developed at a Hampstead Theatre playwrighting scheme (back when Hampstead had development money,) Sarah Power's Grud now receives a distracting staging from Jaz Woodcock-Stewart in the Downstairs studio space. Bo (Catherine Ashdown) is a socially-uncomfortable science geek with no friends at her sixth-form college, until she meets the equally eccentric but more hyper Aicha (Kadiesha Belgrave,) the only other member of their school's space club. As they attempt to build a working miniature replica of a device that's about to be launched into space to do tests, the two girls do quickly feel affection for each other, but Aicha is a lot more enthusiastic about showing that she's excited to have made a friend on her level. Bo's mixture of not knowing how to behave around people, and not wanting to get too close to anyone, comes from growing up with her alcoholic single father.

Still known by her childhood nickname for him, Grud (Karl Theobald) somehow just about holds onto a job while he veers between drunken chaos and relative self-control, with the occasional complete breakdown that has been know to see him end up in a canal.

Bo has responded to having to be the parent to her father by becoming a perfect student who tries to keep the reality about her home life from what little social life she has outside it, so Aicha doesn't understand why her new friend can be erratic, distant or rude, seeming to sabotage their new friendship every time they're getting close. The performances are the highlight of Woodcock-Stewart's production - Belgrave really sells Aicha's determination to make the friendship work, and Ashdown sympathetically shows Bo as self-destructive in a very different way from her father.

But Noemi Daboczi's set is a triumph of symbolism over practicality. I'm never a fan of a wide stage in a small space, where unless you're sitting dead centre (and maybe even then) you're likely to crick your neck trying to see everything. You can see how Grud's split-level set, with the whole centre-stage area taken up by a ramp between the levels, might have seemed a good idea: It's discombobulating like Bo's life with Grud, and a can of Guinness slowly emptying from the house into the school section of the set is a nice symbol of Bo's home life intruding on her hopes of one outside it.

On a practical level, though, this translates to the entire centre third of the playing space being used for about five of the 100 minutes. The action is pushed mainly to the sides, exacerbating the wide stage problem, while those at the centre are looking at an empty stage most of the time. I'm all for audience equality, but achieving it by making sure nobody's got a good view isn't ideal.

The play also suffers from a nasty case of multiple ending syndrome (at least three big dramatic conclusions before the real, underwhelming one,) making the overall impression a frustrating one. It's a shame because there's certainly promising elements here, but the production's choices largely distract from, rather than enhancing them.

Grud by Sarah Power is booking until the 3rd of August at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs.

Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes straight through.

Photo credit: Alex Brenner.