As in ‘Water’, the Filter Theatre actors and technicians have devised this intriguing show with director David Farr, only this time the company has been expanded to include some RSC regulars as well.
The sometimes muddy, underlying theme seems to explore how communication can break down with or without technology. Katy Stephens plays tinnitus-sufferer Kate, who in 1991 met Russian Alexei (Ferdy Roberts) in Berlin where they fell in love to the sound of Little Richard. By 2010 Kate is in England married to a documentary filmmaker (Oliver Dimsdale), who is investigating police brutality in Thatcher’s time. While he uncovers a story that makes London seem like ‘The Lives of Others’, she returns to Russia to track Alexei down.
The two time zones are constantly switching and one has to work hard to keep up. At one point Kate is meeting an old friend in a sleek Russian restaurant while simultaneously her husband is interviewing a retired copper in a London greasy spoon. Christine Entwisle’s waitress serves them both altering her posture accordingly.
There’s a puzzling strand concerning Mariah Gale’s singleton whose attempts to make toast are amplified in the next flat by Jonjo O’Neill’s shy sound recordist. What should be creepy is actually very touching although it’s hard to know why it’s there. Each individual scene is always engaging and the 100-minute show is packed with ideas, but much more focus is needed.