One of the most talked about writer/director partnerships to come out of Theatreland in 2012, Simon Stephens and Marianne Elliott have returned to the National Theatre, following their collaboration on The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, to stage Stephens’ 2002 play Port.
This is not a tale about fortified wine – though the inebriety of some of its characters suggests otherwise – nor is there a ship or harbour in sight, this is a touching tale about a young girl growing up in 1980s Stockport.
At the centre of Stephens’ story is Racheal Keats, a girl of only 11-years-old when her mother leaves her and her six-year-old brother Billy to fend for themselves in a world where the only example they have to follow is that of their alcoholic father. Spanning 13 years of their life, Port takes a frank and, at times, disturbing look at a series of relationships – with family, friends and lovers – which have shaped Racheal’s life.
Emerging from the floor and descending from the ceiling, Lizzie Clachan’s set constantly adapts to follow the troubled teenager on her emotional journey from a car park outside her family home to a hospital, bus stop, garden, supermarket staffroom, hotel room and pub beer garden before returning to where the play started, in the car park where Racheal and Billy remember the heart-breaking moment of their abandonment.
Racheal’s life – like Clachan’s forever changing set – comes full circle, but, although she seems incapable of fleeing this inescapable Stockport, she has gained wisdom and stability from her experiences as the victim of bad parenting and domestic violence, which is implemented by Jack Deam’s dual role as Racheal and Billy’s alcoholic father and, later, as Racheal’s violent and abusive husband.
Kate O’Flynn is captivating as the strong protagonist whose speech is significantly less poetic than her surname suggests; the crisp consonants within her words as absent as her mother’s love. Never leaving the audience’s gaze, O’Flynn remains on the Lyttelton’s stage for the duration of the production, subtly changing costumes as her location transforms around her.
While Port paints a raw and gloomy portrait of working class life in 1980s and 90s Stockport, it is punctuated with moments of laugh-out-loud comedy, from Racheal’s highly geographical description of continental drift as “a big fucking pile-up” to Billy’s inexplicable propensity to getting run over.
While Mike Noble struggles to physically convey more than a decade of ageing in his performance as Racheal’s mischievous brother, his emotional maturation is striking, as it is the touching relationship between the two siblings that remains the most memorable in Elliott’s production.