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Preview: Beachcombing

Having snatched not only the best new writing but also best production award at last year’s cuppers festival, Jack Clover’s writing and directing talents will grace the Oxford stage once more. His latest show Beachcombing charts the relationship between a lost girl and the priest in whose Church she seeks refuge one desolate evening. From my all too brief audience with the production, it seems to me this is set to be yet another triumph for a figure, set to become a big name in Oxford drama.

Like Clover’s last play, Beachcombing is set on the Essex coast, a landscape that seems to hold some fascination for him. It is a fascination reflected not only in the texture of the work but also in the lives and thoughts of his characters. When we first meet James (the priest played by Will Stanford), we see him gazing out over the waters of the north-sea. It’s three am and as he contemplatively sits, trying to monologue away the hurt following the death of his wife. Unbeknownst to him, the curious eyes of a shelter seeking Amy (Aoife Cantrill) observe his every seaward stare. She too is compelled by something about the sea. When James talks about the need to acknowledge the sea if living near it is to make any sense, Amy keeps pressing what’s beyond the horizon and even beyond that. What exactly it is they seek therein I couldn’t tell you, but I look forward to finding out. 

The set up of the play, may raise an eyebrow. With the recent controversies of historic child abuse, in and out of the church, the play certainly touches on some sensitive issues. James is in his middle ages, while Amy is aged somewhere in her late teens. How Clover will handle the dynamic of their relationship will be pivotal not only to the dramatic success of the play but also in defining its position with regard to these difficult issues.

One strategy used to explore the characters’ relationship, is also one of the most intriguing stylistic elements of the play. Clover punctuates the drama with choreographed interludes set to music. These moments mix elements of dance and physical theatre to illustrate the development of their relationship. In the one I saw, something of their tentative sexuality was expressed with the two characters playfully yet cautiously touching each other’s knees. It was interesting to see how every movement made by one of the pair was mirrored by the other; neither seemed to be the dominant/leading one. Although its at the BT, fear not, the soundtrack is not the usual fare of ostentatiously obscure dance music. Instead we are treated to delicate atmospheric Dylan numbers such as “She Belongs to Me”. In the scene I saw, it provided a meditative and very touching counterpoint to the action.

This music also adds to the sense of place constantly conveyed by Clover’s interest in this landscape. There is a happy meeting in his mellow music choices and his character’s physical and verbal ruminations about the sea. It’s hard to describe exactly how it clicks, but it really does.

This is not however the only happy pairing. Cantrill and Stanford complement each other marvelously. Cantrill’s inquisitive and impulsive characterization plays well to the indecisive and rather mellow James. Both seem to inhabit their characters very naturally and their ease with their roles will no doubt carry the drama in the intimacy of the BT. All in all, Beachcombing promises to be an extremely intriguing and original production.

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