(Lyn Gardner’s article appeared in the Guardian, 2/8.)
Memory is a construct in this double bill of Pinter shorts, two plays that are like sharp shards of reflecting glass.
In the 20-minute Monologue, a dapper, ageing man (the excellent Clive Mendus) sits drinking a glass of wine and talking to somebody who is apparently sitting in the chair next to him. Who is this invisible person to whom he chats with a jaunty casualness, detailing a shared past and a shared woman? Is this one-sided conversation endlessly repeated, and does it take the same form every night? The stage is set up in a mirror image: is he simply talking to his younger self? A former best friend? Towards the end of the play, it seems as if it might be his brother. In Chris Goode's scrupulous production, the lone man casts two shadows on the opposing walls. It is simple science, of course, but nonetheless it feels spooky.