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Nothing.
Adaptation of a novel of the same name by Henry Green.

Director - Robert David MacDonald.
Adaption - Andrea Hart.
Designer - Annie Curtis Jones.
Lighting Designer - Paul Sorley.
Company - Citizens' Company.
Cast - here.
Venue - Citizens' Theatre www.citz.co.uk for internet booking 0141 429 0022.
119 Gorbals St .
Dates - Preview 26 Nov Pay what you can.
27 Nov - 20 Dec at 7:30pm £12 (Concs £4 / £1 holders of Gorbals card).
Sat Matinee 13 Dec at 3pm Pay what you can.
Run Time 1 hrs 45 mins including 15 minute interval.
Reviewer - Thelma Good.

Sybaritic, corrosive creatures.

Nothing - Citizens Production. Candida Benson as Mary and Sophie Ward as Jane Wetherby. © Richard Campbell 2003.

Once they had an affair, John Pomfret and Mrs Jane Wetherby, now their children, Mary Pomfret and Philip Wetherby are seeing one another. In Andrea Hart's adaptation of Henry Green's novel we see that strata of English society who meet in clubs and smart restaurants trying to keep up appearances as the years and their tastes erode their capital.

Sophie Ward gives Jane that Princess Grace look of glamour chic Chanel, skewering almost her every remark, you realise as you laugh, into a clear attack. A sharp reminder how expert at manipulation, (with a stress on the man), women of a certain background, avoiding paid work and real emotions, are. Women so attractive when first introduced and so wearing after a while. Simon Dutton plays John Pomfret with a louche charm, so these two scheming people resemble that other couple immortalised in Lacos's Les Liaisons Dangereuses, like them you wish John and Jane would entertain one another than involve outsiders.

The young couple Mary and Philip, contrast in their awkwardness, their uncertainty and confusion palpable when they realise their parents might be more closer tied to each other than just being exlovers. Candia Benson and Pete Ashmore superbly ensure we sympathise for these two, such puppylike innocents, who will never turn into their parents. As John's and Jane's current lovers Lorna McDevitt's Liz and Derwent Abbot's Richard add to the atmosphere of the confused times just after the war. They try to spike their lives with affairs and gossip, an empty rattle after the resounding cacophony of the war's bombings and explosions. There's some nice detail in the Robert MacDonald's direction, full of understanding of how people moved, talked and interacted back then.

Not as barbed as some of his contemporaries, Green's tale has interest, but keeping company with such sybaritic, corrosive creatures as Jane, John Liz and Richard starts to cloy after a while. What helps to keep us engaged are the young creatures with their frail hopes and transitory joy.
© Thelma Good 29 November 2003. - Published on EdinburghGuide.com

Cast of Citizens' Theatre Production of Nothing.
John Pomfret - Simon Dutton, Mary Pomfret - Candida Benson, Jane Wetherby - Sophie Ward, Philip Wetherby - Pete Ashmore, Liz Jennings - Lorna McDevitt and Richard Abbot - Derwent Watson.

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