Discovering a special connection in isolation
Sunnymead Court (The Actors Centre, London)
Verdict: Viral attraction
FIRST out of the blocks with a play inspired by the pandemic is Gemma Lawrence’s Sunnymead Court, a short but entertaining love story about two neighbours whose lives intersect for the first time during lockdown.
Coronavirus is never mentioned but Marie (Miss Lawrence) and Stella (Remmie Milner) find themselves suddenly confined to the titular housing estate where they live.
Working from home with a strict routine — ‘Don’t let anyone ever tell you it’s boring’ — the socially awkward Marie happily forgoes outside contact and doesn’t realise the emotional entombment she is creating for herself.
The rather aimless Stella feeds on human interaction and, while taking her daily exercise, basks in others’ appreciation of her outgoing personality. Marie isn’t bothered that she rarely sees her father, while Stella sees a bit too much of her sick mother, with whom she lives in a flat opposite Marie’s.
Isolation and connection are the themes explored here as the two women, who for much of the play don’t interact and speak directly to the audience, recount the story separately.
But the author wrong-foots us a couple of times as we think Marie and Stella will meet, fall in love and live happily ever after. Just like our pandemic experience of stay at home/go to work and buy a coffee/stay at home but go out/shake it all about, this is a path strewn with false starts, missed opportunities and confused signals.
The play packs a lot into 50 minutes and Miss Lawrence makes her points about love, loneliness and taking risks with subtlety and efficiency. The performances are sincere and funny, James Hillier’s direction moves things along apace and Max Pappenheim’s sound design adds nicely to the mix.
Runs until October 3.