Two talented pianists who performed a lifelong duet
The Ballad Of Hattie And James (Kiln Theatre, Kilburn, London) Verdict: Minor key ★★★☆☆
SAMUEL ADAMSON likes to keep his audience on their toes, as this new time-jumping drama attests. It follows the lifelong relationship of Hattie and James, talented pianists who meet as teenagers performing in a school concert. Hattie (Sophie Thompson) is sweary and permanently sozzled, while James (Charles Edwards) is a vision of grey.
In a play loaded with metaphor, their first conversation is about who will be primo and secondo in the four-hand piece they will perform together; this sets the tone for their friendship. Well, a friendship of sorts, with long stretches where they neither meet nor communicate but are always in each other’s heads as a tragedy involving James’s sister (Alivia Mihayo) haunts them.
Adamson takes his time telling the story, which like a musical score circles round repeatedly. It’s occasionally baffling — it’s important to catch
the timelines projected on the back of the stage. But it has some sparky lines — ‘She’s a Buddhist. But angry,’ Hattie says of her girlfriend, Eve (Suzette Llewellyn, playing several characters representing the important women in their lives).
The play begins at St Pancras station in London, where Hattie plays one of its pianos (the music is played onstage by Berrak Dyer). A video goes viral on the internet and reaches James, who contacts Hattie. Gradually, their story unfolds and we learn why it was the first time in decades Hattie had played.
It’s a play with big ideas on the power of friendship and music, and how a shared moment can affect two people very differently.
But the main pleasure in Richard Twyman’s production is in the acting, as Edwards and Thompson give sensitive, nuanced performances. Until May 18 (kilntheatre.com)