“Music must come from silence. Come from it and return to it.” This quote sums up what was a very intriguing and moving night of theatre.

The Lemon Table, written by Julian Barnes, is a truly fascinating play in two very distinct halves. The first part, ‘Vigilance’, comes across on the surface as an entertaining selection of stories from an ageing concert goer. Any fan of theatre would be able to relate to his annoyances at audience members rustling sweets, coughing, clapping in the wrong places etc. These humorous anecdotes however are conveyed with an undertone of hysteria. This man's personal life is falling apart and the small hints of those you receive are extremely hard hitting amongst the comedy. You really feel for this man as he breaks down when the subject of his long term boyfriend leaving due to his own mistakes is addressed. 

In the wrong hands, this 70-minute straight play would struggle to hold an audience. The show, however, is held in the very experienced hands of Ian McDiarmid. From his entrance through the audience, right through to his final lines whilst standing on a table, he has the audience hooked. McDiarmid’s performance is perfectly complemented by the stage design. Frankie Bradshaw's simple yet effective set is married with Paule Constable’s superb lighting design. This is all brought together with the subtle yet powerful sound design by Elle Wahlström’s, which draws on Sibelius’ sweeping musical score to reflect what the characters were going through.

The music fades as we move into ‘The Silence’. Here, we are introduced to an ageing composer who is looking for his final symphony but is met with silence. Though unlikeable, you still feel his pain as he is struggling to redeem himself before he surrenders to the Lemon Table (described by Julian Barnes as a table at a restaurant where it is “permissible - indeed, obligatory - to talk about death.”) The simple set is utilised a lot more here, consisting of a long table and two chairs. Whilst the chairs are used in ‘The Vigilance’ to symbolise a theatre, the table is the focus in ‘The Silence’. Watching an elderly, proud gentleman crawl over a table to get to his whiskey bottle is uncomfortable and also evokes a response of pity for this man who has lost his music and in return finds alcohol and silence.

The messages one can take from this new play are very varied. After the last 18 months and the struggles that theatre has been through, it is uplifting to get enveloped into some true storytelling. Storytelling is the essence of theatre and to experience a true master at his craft is always an experience to be remembered. But these stories also convey how our passions can turn to obsessions. Obsessions which, after a lifetime of holding onto, can sometimes turn sour.

We can all lose ourselves to what we love and in the end we are all left with silence.

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Robin Dibben

The Lemon Table plays at Salisbury Playhouse until 23 October, before visiting Sheffield, Guildford, Manchester and Malvern.