Kult Klassic’s production of Harold Pinter’s, ‘The Homecoming’, is an absolute triumph. This play set in 1960s London, depicts a dysfunctional family with its many complexities. All the characters bring a provocative undercurrent of struggle. Pinterseque dialogue is like no other. The audience needs to be shocked and taken out of their comfort zone. Co-Directors, Lola Carlton and Bora Celebi have the actors working at the peak of their powers. The result is intense. We are gripped.
Max (Neil O’Donnell), the brutal patriarch, wields his walking stick around the home. Even with declining mobility, the stick is used as a weapon. Max has his sons Lenny (Alejandro Sarmiento Castro), a menacing pimp, and Joey (Harrison Down) a demolition worker by day and a trainee-boxer by night, living with him. Sam (Linton Atlas), Max’s brother, is non-threatening and polite. Sam is a chauffeur and is allowed to stay in the home, whilst he still brings in a steady income and the occasional gift from clients.
Max’s wife Jessie has died. There is a lack of femininity in the household. Max refers to Jessie often. Sometimes fondly, sometimes cruelly. It depends on Max’s mood. All the men, except Sam, see women in a derogatory manner.
Unexpectedly, Teddy, (Tate Wilkinson Alexander), the eldest son arrives, after a six year absence. Teddy is a Doctor of Philosophy in America and has a glamorous wife, Ruth (Danette Potgieter). Together they have three sons.
Ruth has an immediate effect on the men of the household. They all become intoxicated by her and Teddy is powerless. Ruth enjoys the male attention and swoons in their presence. Max and Lenny offer her a work proposal. The role of prostitute for a few hours a day, in her own flat, followed by doing some domestic duties in the family home.
When Max, Lenny and Joey, literally fall at her feet, Ruth dismisses Teddy. He leaves. Ruth has abandoned him and their boys, to be swept up my male adoration. The audience questions who has the real power here. Ruth or the men? It’s a provocative question. Is Pinter being misogynistic or is he showing that men are somehow under Ruth’s spell.
In many ways, it’s a shocking ending. A wife abandoning her husband and children, to be a prostitute is alarming. Several audiences members were gobsmacked. That’s the magic of Pinter. He takes an absurdist stance and then challenges us.
Neil O’Donnell is convincing as the cantankerous Max. We believe his intimidating presence. O’Donnell makes the monstrous Max, seem real. Alejandro Sarmiento Castro is dazzling as Lenny. Castro reminds me of a young Robert De Niro. Utterly charming, yet, able to play sinister at the same time. When Lenny laughs his prolonged laugh, it’s scary. Sam (Linton Atlas) provides an eloquent counterbalance to Max. Tate Wilkinson Alexander exudes an academic nerdiness as Teddy. The Doctor of Philosophy has achieved much acclaim, but his achievements are not valued back at home. Alexander carefully brings the necessary sense of vulnerability to this role. Danette Potgieter entrances as Ruth. Potgieter reminds me of a young Uma Thurman in a Tarantino creation. She is quite beguiling. Harrison Down as Joey, conveys vulnerability and some thuggery, as the young man grapples with self identity.
Bronte Taylor’s set is perfect. It sets the mood of a male-dominated home. Studio One in the Esme Timbery Creative Lab at the University Of NSW, is an ideal venue for this play. The audience is up-close-and-personal. Occasional wafts of herbal cigarettes smoked on-stage, titillate our nostrils. Kult Klassic Productions is an exciting new company, that deserves our patronage.
To book tickets to The Homecoming, please visit https://events.humanitix.com/the-homecoming-kult-klassic/tickets.
Photographer: whtvrlolawantslolagets
