In the intimate surroundings of the Old Red Lion Theatre, you feel as if you have been invited to a dinner party from the last century. With 1920s décor, and a set that resembles a real-life drawing room, this is an immersive fly on the wall experience.
Albie (Magnus Gordon) sets the scene for the coming soiree with his cut glass accent and aristocratic ways. We meet his childhood friend Peter Horne (Alexander Hackett) who has recently become a priest, and who Albie wishes to avail himself of his godly duties by marrying him to his latest fling, Mary (Bethany Slater), the niece of Etta (Cici Clarke).
Of course, a party is never a good party without trouble, and the scene is set for a night of debacle and debauchery when we learn of Etta’s interest in the occult. Add in the PTSD of the recent war, the savaged emotions of a former life lost, a host of class inequalities, accusations of false betterment and a lust for pleasure, and you have all the hallmarks of an explosive night.
The problem is, the fireworks never quite come. Most of the performance feels awkward and intense with laboured dialogue going around and around the same subjects but never really finding any resolution. There’s a lot of stalking about on stage, much quaffing of wine and plentiful lighting and stubbing out of cigarettes, accompanied by incessant changing of records, but nothing much really happens.
We never learn why Albie’s dad hates Peter so much, nor do we learn why Peter would be so happy if Albie’s father had died. If indeed this information did get imparted, it got lost on me. The fact they both end up dead in the end was odd, and I was unsure what the game was, but perhaps that was another key plot twist I missed.
Billed as a ‘psychological interrogation into whether we have the power to change the course of our lives’ I was left wondering if I had attended the wrong performance. This sounded a very interesting production, and while the acting was passable, the actual script fell short of the mark.
Playing until 13th April, https://www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk/hornes-descent.html
Reviewer: Samantha Collett
Reviewed: 4th April 2024
North West End UK Rating: