Stephen Mangan (Nick), Nicola Walker (Polly) and Erin Doherty (Kate) in Unicorn. Credit Marc BrennerPolly (Nicola Walker) a poet and teacher, has recently begun enjoying frank and stimulating conversations with a female student Kate (Erin Doherty) who is in her mid-20s and appears refreshingly liberated from the hang-ups and baggage we invariably acquire as we age. Despite certain misgivings, the intellectual openness which passes between them triggers a latent sexual desire in Polly, but before anyone can act, she feels compelled to fully apprise her husband Nick (Stephen Mangan) of the situation, and who knows… perhaps find some way to include him and thereby create a new normal? Apparently the play’s title refers to the rarity of any person able to integrate successfully into an established pairing to create a new paradigm.
Beneath Miriam Buether’s cloche set, each scene involving a couple or thruple permutation, is played out on a simple bench, sofa, pair of stools or bed, minimising the extraneous clutter which would otherwise detract and distract the audience from the business of filtering and delighting in Bartlett’s steady stream of nuggets. The visual is further enhanced at each mini break, as lighting designer Natasha Chivers’ semi-circular illuminated arc causes a momentary blindness in which the set furniture is quickly changed in the black-out. As a device, it is impressive and effective - at least for the first half dozen times it is used, but the novelty wears a little thin by the end.
When Nick, (referring to the fire of his sexual ardour), claims to be down to his embers, he barely flinches as he suggests to Kate that he needs someone to blow on them. The play is positively littered with genuinely funny observations about the ridiculousness of married life and the love of familiarity, juxtaposed with a longing for an invigorating vitality. It also warns obliquely of the risks inherent in introducing change to an established relationship, whilst simultaneously acknowledging the potential benefits in an age where societal mores have changed perceptions and degrees of acceptance for all manner of previously shunned behaviours. Miraculously (for such a minefield topic) little is presented in a judgemental way, so the angst felt by each character when arriving at their considered positions, is permitted to be explored to its fullest, most humorous conclusion each step of the way.
Between them, the three actors demonstrate exactly why each is consistently in demand to play roles which illuminate the human condition. Here, the end result is a linguistic joy and a poignant study from every delightfully excruciating angle.
UNICORN plays at the Garrick Theatre until 26th April.
