Theatre review: Relics

It's not quite Paddington but Ben Ockrent's Relics also begins with a bear going on a journey: As the safety curtain goes up on Joanna Scotcher's set a teddy bear gets caught in it, before being dropped into a packing box. It's a metaphor for much of what happens in the next couple of hours, as cherished memories of childhood and family get unceremoniously turned upside down when four siblings meet at their family home, a week or so after their mother's funeral. They're dividing up the possessions they most want to keep before selling the house off, and quickly resolve themselves into the dynamic they've always shared: Eldest Olivia (Sally Phillips) has always been the one to take on most of the responsibility, but with that has come bossiness, and she's decided the way they're going to divvy everything up.

Always the prodigal first son, Jonny (JJ Feild) has a borderline-sociopathic selfishness, and the fact that he's even turned up is a surprise to his two younger siblings. Rob (Sam Swainsbury) has been the peacemaker to the point of becoming a pushover, and youngest Michelle (Charly Clive) has a rebellious streak but is sick of being treated as the baby.

Ockrent's family comedy-drama gets a very funny production from Michael Longhurst, the first act largely consisting of us getting to know the siblings through their bickering, anecdotes and family updates. But the script is also cleverly seeding plot points as well, and when the creepy old painting that hung in their mother's bedroom turns out to have an unexpected provenance, the story takes a turn into a whole new, morally murky area.

I don't want to go into too much detail because the way the plot's twists take the play into new territory every so often is part of what's both fun and challenging about it: Ockrent and Longhurst manage to balance both serious discussions about Second World War atrocities and an extended lip-sync to "Total Eclipse of the Heart" without it feeling like either is out of place.

A lot of this comes from the cast pitching their performances at just the right level of mild hysteria for both physical comedy and an unexpected, huge moral quandary. Relics really works in both the comic and dramatic sides of its setup, and it's also always satisfying to see so many throwaway gags turn out to be important later on. (Plus the plot strand involving Camille Pissarro in Norwood makes this the second play I've seen this year to hang on a 19th century European painter having spent time in South East London.)

Relics by Ben Ockrent is booking until the 18th of July at the Lyric Hammersmith.

Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Marc Brenner.