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Salt-Water Moon
Finborough Theatre, London SW10
SALT-WATER MOON introduces us to the Mercer family’s roots in the second of an acclaimed cycle of five plays by David French (1939- 2010) that explore family relationships and how they are shaped by their Newfoundland history.
This short, intense, naturalistic drama, set on a moonlit night in 1926, sees the surprise return of 18-year-old Jacob to try to win back the heart of his former sweetheart Mary, now engaged to an older, well-established, local man.
This poetic exploration of hope and imagination over the restrictions of the past forms the heart of this engaging play.
Class, gender and the traumas of WWI seem to have predetermined both characters’ futures.
Mary, sent into service at nine years old and honour-bound to save her younger sister from a workhouse-type existence, believes an affluent yet loveless marriage is the way out.
Jacob, carrying the baggage of the past, has run away once from the ordeals of working-class life in rural Newfoundland but has learnt to dream of a different future.
Outstanding performances by both Bryony Miller as the strong-willed yet defensive Mary and Joseph Potter as the charismatic, ebullient Jacob bring the drama to life.
Set on cajoling Mary into admitting that she has made the wrong choice, Jacob’s arguments unearth not only their personal histories but also that of their parents’ troubled lives.
Director Peter Kavanagh contrasts Mary’s restraint to Jacob’s swagger and verve through their body language, movement around the small stage and in their contrasting accents flecked with notes of their different European heritages.
Moments of shared dreams reveal their hidden feelings while Mary’s constant need to create distance belie the intimacy Joseph is trying to reignite.
As a single play this seems old-fashioned compared to many contemporary romances, almost like a performance piece for aspiring actors, but in the context of the full cycle of French’s semi-autobiographical plays, it is a beautiful study of young love as a way of breaking free from the past.
Runs until January 28 2023. Box office: (020) 7244-7439, finboroughtheatre.co.uk.
