After the rather brilliant production of Lucy Kirkwood’s The Children last month, comes the second instalment of The Gate’s Love and Courage season. David Eldridge’s Beginning is a two-hander exploring the challenges of finding love or, “sozzled loners seek a connection in a tech age,” as the Guardian header described it. Starring Marty Rea (Danny) and Eileen Walsh (Laura), who is well versed for this role following recent performances in the stellar Catastrophe, these are the last two souls at a house-warming party. Their performances and interplay are excruciatingly entertaining.
“I wish I’d met you online. Everything would be so much easier,” says Danny, at one stage, summarising the tragic disconnect of our times facilitated by social media. The perspective of the lost and wounded, fragile, man is particularly interesting and carried off with aplomb by Rea. After a killer poster for The Children, it’s a slight shame this one fails to convey how funny and poignant this production truly is. A double whammy of refreshingly contemporary productions for The Gate. Take a bow!
Until Saturday April 20
