Crystal Clear - Old Red Lion Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
WHITE Deer Theatre is presenting Crystal Clear at the Old Red Lion Theatre. Devised by Phil Young, it runs from July 23 to August 17, 2019.
Richard (Gareth Kennerley) – a young man with diabetes – is struggling. As his health deteriorates, so too do his feelings for long-term partner Jane (Rakhee Sharma). He looks for comfort in the calming company of Thomasina (Gillian Dean), a poised and enigmatic blind woman.
After Richard loses his own sight, however, his relationships with the two women unravel: things collapse between him and Jane, and his intense but ill-fated connection with the serene Thomasina takes a tragic turn.
One act and three actors, Crystal Clear is described as a raw and humbling examination of loss and our attempts to cope with it, exploring both human selfishness and our fundamental need for connection.
It is both a delicate study of experiences of blindness and a vicious picture of love undone by fear and self-destruction. When Richard turns blind, consumed with impotent rage, he and Thomasina must confront the fundamental question of how their love will survive in a world made for the sighted.
Devised by Phil Young through improvisation with the original cast, the play first premiered at The Old Red Lion in 1982 before transferring to the West End’s Wyndham’s Theatre in 1983.
Young went on to direct a television adaptation which aired on BBC One on June 21, 1988. Now, coinciding with The Old Red Lion’s 40th year anniversary, this moving and important piece of theatre returns to the venue where it first debuted.
Young’s script is a fearless attempt to tackle difficult themes around blindness and disability. In reviving Crystal Clear, White Deer Theatre hope to crack open conversations around access and visual impairment, focussing on how our understanding of these issues has changed since the play’s first outing.
To this end, visually impaired actor Gillian Dean is cast as Thomasina and access consultant Amelia Cavallo is advising on accessibility, including audio description, touch tours, set, lighting, and sound design throughout the process.
All performances will be accessible for visually impaired audience members, with audio description narrated live by the cast. This approach will make description an integral part of the performance – rather than something hidden behind a pair of headphones – creating a shared experience for sighted and visually impaired audiences. Pre-show touch tours will be available to access ticket holders for every performance.
In order to further engage the blind and partially sighted community around the contentious and much-discussed questions that the play raises, writers of all levels of experience will be offered the opportunity to attend the previews and write a rapid response. These response pieces, involving as many visually impaired creatives as possible, will be developed into short plays across ten days and performed in a scratch performance on August 3.
There will also be a post-show panel discussion on August 6 looking at “Access and representation in theatre: successes and remaining challenges”, with additional topics planned for further into the run.
Crystal Clear is directed by PJ Stanley and has lighting design by Peter Small and set and costume design by Luke W Robson.
To book tickets online, visit www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk/crystal-clear.
Image: The cast of Crystal Clear. Photo credit: Lidia Crisafulli.
Also at the Old Red Lion Theatre: The Knot, an intimate dark comedy about marriage and culture clash (until July 6, 2019).