‘The Gift’ and ‘Glory, Glory’ are two brand new short plays with a breath of fresh air for Spring. Together entitled ‘The Gift and the Glory’, a Dukes original performance shows us how they are going from strength to strength.
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The Gift and The Glory
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Venue
The Dukes Theatre, Lancaster[/info]
John Moorhead’s ‘The Gift’ follows the walk of Jed and Tom on what we discover to be more than just a ramble, set in the hills above Grasmere and played out on a map of the Lakes there is a very special connection with the local landscape. The walk is one very familiar to the pair and this two-hander brings a brilliant friendship dynamic, not only with the characters but with the audience and the play itself. We take a journey which is changing the friend’s lives in the time it would usually take me to eat my tea. When the story takes not a completely unexpected sad turn you are fixed to the action, feeling every step and the load which they are carrying.
‘Glory Glory’ was written specifically to follow, by Alison Heffernan and begins with a total and needed lift, a contrasting new friendship blossoms before our eyes. Uptight Lizzie and free living Joy are an unlikely couple, but they are surprisingly alike and as they seem to connect their climb seems to take an unexpected and dark turn of its own. Now in a completely different situation the still developing relationship is severely put to the test. I was however laughing right to the very end, these plays are a total emotional journey. Taking you apart in the first half and replacing your belief in the second, a well rounded experience from two completely different plays connected only in setting and production. Pushed along with clever and subtle musical direction the stories continue way after the bows are taken, in my imagination and in the hints onstage. A very clever connected event with brilliant acting and scripted in a beautiful way, this play I believe is here to stay.
