Review: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, @sohoplace
Photo credit: Manuel Harlan
Love in its intricacies is a complex force, even more so when many of its forms can be forbidden. Annie Proulx’s 1997 short story Brokeback Mountain, later adapted into the 2005 Oscar-winning motion picture, explores the emotional landscape of such a love when two sheep herders are flung together for a summer atop a mountain, and are forced to explore their rawest most vulnerable selves. Now adapted into a play with music by writer Ashley Robinson and composer Dan Gillespie Sells, the story of Brokeback Mountain unfolds over ninety minutes in the intimate space of the newly opened @sohoplace. The burgeoning question is: has the story that has stolen and broken so many hearts turned a new page, or should it have stayed upon the shelf?
We think it needs to be said from the off that what develops in that space is nothing short of beautiful. It is so rare that we see queer love depicted on stage with such abandon as heterosexual romance. Brokeback Mountain excels in unapologetically embracing the intimacy, passion and tactility of Jack and Ennis’ connection, which ultimately makes it all the more heartbreaking. The stoic Ennis Del Mar and charismatic Jack Twist are played by Lucas Hedges and Mike Faist respectively. The pair establish a gorgeously nuanced and trusting relationship, which is imperative when the entire emotional cortex of the show rests on the bond of its central pair. It is not easy by any stretch as an actor to give yourself over completely, and these two need to be commended for their dedication and compassion in telling this story.
Ashley Robinson tells the story through the lens of an older Ennis in 2013, reflecting on his life still haunted by his love for Jack and what could have been. Robinson hits the nail on the head by using this as a storytelling device. It allows the audience to empathise with Ennis, humanise him, and understand him and the aching regret he feels when he was merely just a victim of an intolerable time. Robinson creates some gorgeous dialogue, allowing moments of humour and levity amongst some of the other hard-hitting and violent moments. The play is, after all, an exploration of queer love in an intolerant Wyoming, a state that didn’t decriminalise homosexuality until 1977, bearing in mind this story starts in 1963. The well-placed inclusion of some of the film’s most impactful lines are a beautiful touch to Robinson’s book. However, for the most part well-paced, there are occasional moments where the trajectory is rushed. Unfortunately, the most noticeable of these happens to be during the formation of the relationship on Brokeback. Although attention is paid to creating a bond of friendship, it doesn’t seem to err enough on the side of intimacy, so when they have sex, it seems to come out of nowhere and the subsequent intimacy feels slightly rushed. The twenty years that are chronicled after, however, are given space to breathe and grow, allowing us to get enveloped in a delicate and devastating love affair.
Jonathan Butterell’s direction is fluid. It beautifully careens through moments of unspoken emotion and charged kineticism, with only a few moments where certain seats’ views may be obstructed. Save a scene in bed between Jack and Ennis, no person is without view of anyone too long. Tom Pye’s set is stunningly versatile working as both Mountain and land level. The aspects of terrain are never covered which gives the impression that Brokeback is forever with them, consuming and pervading their every moment. Alongside David Finn’s beautiful lighting design, the creative team allow this production to unfold in the round, which is a perfect setting for such a vulnerable piece. Using @sohoplace allows us to feel a sense of honour that we’re being allowed in on this story and at times does what theatre needs to do, pull you out of reality and make you feel as if you’re actually a fly on the wall.
Dan Gillespie Sells has composed a gorgeous slew of songs that usher up southern Americana that are used to underpin emotional climaxes and changes of scene. Sean Green has expertly musically directed a live band accompanied by the soulful voiced Eddi Reader as The Balladeer. You get the impression that these were the songs that Ennis and Jack used to listen to, to while away the hours in bed which make them all the more poignant. Praise must also go to Emily Fairn in a breathtaking supporting performance as Ennis’ wife, Alma. Fairn doesn’t have a long time to go on the emotional journey that is required of her character, but she does it with ease, balance and surety.
This show is inherently about vulnerability and intimate connection. Jack is far more open to exploring a life that allows them the possibility of being in each other’s lives romantically for as long as possible, whereas Ennis’ deep-seated trauma and realistic outlook on the homophobia of their generation doesn’t allow himself the possibility of happiness. However, they both share the same root desire. This creates a primal dynamic that is expertly crafted by intimacy co-ordinator Tommy Ross-Williams. Ross-Williams has allowed Faist and Hedges to connect in the safest and realist of ways. The layers this adds to the relationship between them and the impact it has on us as an audience cannot be understated.
History would never let these two be together. So, although devastating, it’s right that the show doesn’t either. Jack’s fate is sealed in a homophobic attack of fatal violence, leaving Ennis to grieve for what little they could have – Brokeback. In 1998, a year after Annie Proulx released her story, the world was rocked by the homophobic murder of Matthew Shepard. Just this week, a video went viral on Twitter of a child being subjected to an act of homophobic assault. You would think that the brutal core of this story would have lost its impact by now, but it hasn’t, it’s still painfully relevant. So, people need to go, in their droves to @sohoplace, see this story and fall in love with the love of two people who found one another. Who laugh, who argue, who have sex, who drink, who embrace, who just so happen to be two men. Because it’s not a bad thing, it’s a beautiful thing.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Duncan Burt
Brokeback Mountain plays at London’s @sohoplace until 12 August, with tickets available here.
