What’s it all about?
Two men – you can, I’m sure, guess their names – one in his 60s, the other in his 20s, who meet one night and spend the next day discussing, arguing, abusing, revealing and divulging their ideas and life stories.
Who’s in it?
Peter Egan, last seen in London in the Old Vic’s Other Desert Cities, plays Otto, imbuing the elder partner with the calmness of experience and a quiet resignation.
Alex Waldmann’s Jonah is full of the anger of youth and that young male need to battle and prove oneself to justify existence.
Together they make an odd couple, but have enough chemistry to justify why, after a chance meeting, they would spend an entire day laying bare their souls and trying to understand each other rather than just walking away and continuing with their lives.
What should I look out for?
A power nap so deep it would make Sleeping Beauty jealous and the chance it gives Waldmann to perform an impressive feat of garment reassignment.
Simon Bejer’s simple set that holds a sweetly gratifying surprise.
In a nutshell?
Loneliness, magic, a symbolic apple and ‘rumpy pumpy’; it may conjure images of Eden but East Sussex is far from paradise in this existential tale.
What’s being said on Twitter?
@deldridgewriter Robert Holman’s “Jonah and Otto” is still in my marrow this morning. Extraordinary play; mesmerizing @StarkTim revival @ParkTheatre #GoSee
@lyngardner Jonah & Otto @ParkTheatre is play of such troubled grace from the great Robert Holman. Exquisite perfs too from Peter Egan & Alex Waldmann
Will I like it?
Two idiosyncratic chaps sitting on a bench discussing life; if Beckett’s your bag this could be right up your theatrical thoroughfare. If you like your characters cryptic, your introspection heavy, your action fleeting and your oranges consumed ravenously, you’ll have a whale of a time at Jonah and Otto.
Jonah And Otto is playing at the Park Theatre until 23 November. You can buy tickets from the theatre’s website.