Never Have I Seen Mount Fuji & Others @ Jack Studio Theatre – A Review

Following on from his new translation of Machiavelli’s Mandrake, playwright Howard Colyer has returned to SE4’s Brockley Jack Studio Theatre with three new plays – Never Have I Seen Mount Fuji, Conference Call and Nothing Else Ever.

review never have seen mount fuji brockley jack studio theatre Presented by Ballast Theatre, the first play in the trio stars John Paton as Harold, a senior civil servant in a Government department who is paired with Gosia Roska playing Hannah, a lowly receptionist. What unfolds is a bizarre relationship between these two wildly mismatched figures – Harold, unfamiliar with physical relationships is unable to respond to Hannah’s increasingly passionate advances, while she becomes increasingly unhinged. It’s a very disturbing and unnerving piece of theatre, emphasised by the actors moving around pieces of the set on the darkened stage between scenes in a ritualistic, almost Japanese style befitting the piece. It’s very odd indeed.

The second piece, Conference Call, features Daniel Wiltshire playing Martin, a man who becomes obsessed with a ghost in the local graveyard. As the play progresses it becomes clear that the three women who he is talking to on the phone (Jess Tobert as Doctor Rye, Laura Mulholland as Dr Walmer and Ruth E Mortimer as Doctor Deal) are actually undertaking an assessment of his mental state – having done something truly terrible, Martin is clearly in the throes of a massive psychotic break. The best of the three mini-plays in my opinion, it’s brilliantly acted – Wiltshire is utterly convincing throughout, and the dialogue between the three female characters is a marvel, each picking up the end of the previous speaker’s sentence with increasing speed. In fact, both the situation and the writing echo another character’s encounter with three women – you might perhaps consider Conference Call to be a 21st century retelling of a familiar Scottish Play…

The final piece is this seventy five minute performance Nothing Else Ever features Judy Tcherniak as a rather fragile older woman, Anne, who finds herself on a bench overlooking the sea and confessing her sins to passerby Mungo (Gareth Pilkington). My only criticism of this very engaging piece of theatre is it’s length – Nothing Else Ever is far too short. Tcherniak’s has an incredibly expressive face and I would have welcomed the opportunity to see rather more of this fine older actress’s performance.

This current run at the Brockley Jack Studio Theatre represents a very neat and varied little package – I commend it to you. Performances continue through until Saturday 7 September, and tickets are an absolute steal at £10 (£8 concessions). The theatre is set above a delightful pub too…