ED2015 4/5 Reviews ED2015 Theatre Reviews

The Solid Life Of Sugar Water (Graeae Theatre Company and Theatre Royal Plymouth)

By Gemma Scott | Published on Thursday 27 August 2015

This is a deeply affecting production, about a grieving young couple and the cracks that can grow in the silences. We see their relationship develop, from first meeting (he finds her deafness “exotic”, she finds him “harmless”) to trying to cope with a tragic loss. Genevieve Barr and Arthur Hughes are by turns tender and touching, distant and damaged. They mostly talk directly to the audience, allowing us to hear the things left unsaid between them. The play is also creatively surtitled, making it fully accessible to a D/deaf audience. Though I found the very graphic descriptions of sex a little too much for my (unexpectedly prudish) tastes, this is nonetheless a profoundly moving play.

Pleasance Dome, until 30 Aug.
tw rating 4/5 | [Gemma Scott]