at The Shed, National Theatre
Table†, a new play by Tanya Ronder, is the first production to open the National Theatre’s new, temporary venue The Shed. In a previous post I took a look around the venue and gave a taste of the kind of work we can expect out of this space. The play, directed by Rufus Norris, explores family ties, identity and the things we pass down through the generations, both the physical (the eponymous table) and the mental. There is a cast of nine, who between them play thirty characters in a production that runs to about two and half hours.
Beginning at some point in the late 19th century we meet the maker of the table, his new wife and their son. Their life seems simple and happy, as the hard-working craftsman skilfully carves out the table that will accompany them as they carve out a new life together. However, tragedy strikes, and Ronder quickly lays out the pattern of ups and downs, bliss and tragedy that will dictate the lives of future generations. We are quickly moved on from this generation and taken on our journey down the tree, ever-accompanied by the table, which absorbs the events and emotions of it’s owners.
For a large part of the first act the table is personified by one of the actors, which works well to ingrain in the audience’s mind that the table is a character in its own right, though later on this element is dropped and unfortunately, it seems that the table takes a bit of a back-seat. However, the fortunes of the multi-generational family, are enough to engage the audience, and though their movements: English countryside, Africa and back to London, seem erratic, they portray well the turbulence that two-world wars might produce.
I think the play, at least in part, explores how world events and rapid advances in technology wrenched ordinary people out of the 19th century and into a chaotic, and potentially impersonal world, and the dramatic affects this has had on the structure and dynamics of the family unit. War and alcoholism, decline of empire and immigration, religion and changing social conventions buffet the family, but what persists throughout is the idea of the family, however it is constituted.
Each actor is tasked with both portraying a number of different characters and these characters at differing stages in their lives. Grown men and women portray toddlers and teenagers, young and old, but it worked, it didn’t feel out of place, and only took a slight getting used to when it first occurred. The innocence they portrayed as children, only added to the tragedy as we watch the flaws of the older generation imprint on their young lives to be carried through to adulthood.
When the grandfather of the modern (and most recent) generation returns after years alone, seemingly having abandoned the family, we understand how all these changes and pressures can deeply affect the psyche, and ultimately it is in the idea of family that refuge it sought. At times, especially during the middle sections, we lose touch with the strand that runs down the middle, but ultimately it is pulled together, and though clearly fragile, the audience is left hoping that the family, both on stage, and in our own lives, will continue to carry us through the ups and downs that the world throws at us.
Table runs until 18 May, 2013
†I attended a preview performance, two nights before the opening night.
