Review: LIFERS, Southwark Playhouse
Photo credit: Rich Southgate
Liberty is something we all take for granted; the right to come and go, work, rest and play as and when we please. Those who break the law lose this fundamental right for a period dictated by the courts. Such confinement is dependent on the severity of the offence. Most offenders will be released after a period of rehabilitation. But for some inmates there is no release date. They are imprisoned to protect the public and are deemed incapable of rejoining society. Lifers occupy a parallel society patrolled by guards and high walls laced with barbed wire. How do they cope with the past, present and future? This play by Evan Placey throws light on one such lifer who tries to make sense of his surroundings and predicament.
The story begins with three old lags playing poker for match sticks. There's not much else in HMP Drummond to set the pulses racing. They gently wind each up with a nudge here and dig there. Norton (Sam Cox) is an unrepentant smoker with a hearing aid. Baxter (Ricky Fearon) loves to brag about Windrush, but struggles to make his age fit the chronology of the voyage. Then there is Lenny (Peter Wight), a lifer with baggage and a walking frame. His health is beginning to fail and gets support from Mark (James Backway), an idealistic prison officer. He sees the inmates not as prisoners but an extended family. Lenny rages against the system that won't give him a referral to a specialist. The overworked and put upon prison doctor Sonya (Mona Goodwin) finally relents. But what does the future hold for Lenny?
Whilst thoughtfully written, the narrative is slow to pick up the pace and gets sidetracked by a ponderous introduction. It's only in the second half of the play that the fragments of Lenny's life truly fall into place. As good as the supporting characters are, they are superfluous to the underlying plot. The most gripping scenes are between Lenny and his estranged son Simian. One feels this play could have been more effectively staged as a two-hander where the focus falls on the central character and his back story. The cast perform admirably, but Peter Wight steals every scene with a powerhouse performance as Lenny. Wight is a fine character actor with over 150 film and TV appearances to his name but always as the dependable support; now he rightly shines in a leading role.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Brian Penn
Lifers plays at Southwark Playhouse Borough in London until 25 October, with further info here.
