33. In A Forest Dark and Deep - Vaudeville Theatre

This was another Masterclass marvellous press night deal, though sadly not one I enjoyed anywhere near as much as Flare Path. Partly this might have been down to the seats which were some of the most ridiculously uncomfortable I have ever sat in at a theatre (I was lucky that no one sat next to me, so I could sit sideways, as my not exactly ridiculously long legs wouldn’t fit otherwise – how the Vaudeville could ever charge someone £35 for those seats is a mystery). Mostly though my issues were down to the writing.


I found it incredibly difficult to tell if the writing was actually any good or not – there were some interesting rants and nice turns of phrase in the dialogue, but the crudeness of the writing wasn’t particularly clever and was only ever marginally surprising, where I suspect I was supposed to be shocked. One of my frustrations at the moment is that for some people crudeness and non-pc writing has begun to be considered cutting edge, rather than hopelessly out of date. I was even given the sense in some reviews that this was being heralded as a hearkening back to a better time. Which I could possibly consider accepting if the majority of the top jobs in the theatre industry weren’t still so dominated by white men. Though I’m still not sure I would have found it particularly revelatory or impressive. On top of which I found the plot twists utterly predictable and had worked out the majority of them long before they happened. In fact my brain was busy concocting much more interesting scenarios, which is never a good sign.

Deeper than these issues though, I found the entire play uncomfortably swathed in misogyny, which makes it horribly unlikely that I would ever have enjoyed this. If this misogyny had been limited as a view point of Bobby, who I found thoroughly unpleasant and unlikable anyway, that would have been one thing – but it was far too ingrained and unchallenged for me to accept it as an example of misogyny and not misogynistic itself. The main problem was that Betty was never given an opportunity to argue back – her arguments seemed weak comparative to Bobby’s rants, her lines weren’t as strong and it was never questioned that her promiscuous behaviour made her anything less than wrong and a slut. Plus despite being a clever and successful woman, losing her looks made the character loose her self worth and, seemingly, her sanity. Couple with this, the ending placed Betty in the position of an evil victim, with Bobby as the hero sacrificing his own morals to save her.

All of which made me want to slap the wrists of the gaggle of young girls around me who laughed appreciatively at every appalling thing Matthew Fox’s character said – it seems I was mistakenly sat in the MF fandom section. In fact throughout the play, I had the awkward sensation that everyone else seemed to be finding it incredibly funny, whilst I was mostly finding it uncomfortable.Which makes it sound as if I truly loathed it, which actually wasn’t the case, though I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it particularly, I came out feeling as if I hadn’t disliked it exactly either (my rage has grown with further consideration). I thought Matthew Fox was good and Olivia Williams was superb, if a little miscast. For her alone, it would be worth seeing this (cheaply). I also liked the set, which gave a nice new shape to the split level house I’ve been seeing inside theatres a lot recently. Plus it was covered in books which is always bound to make me stupidly happy. Though I do have to say that, having moved three times in the last year. I was distracted and horrified by their packing technique. Though I’ll have to put that down to Betty being in shock and Bobby being a twat.

All in all this production had some nice elements, but it’s not a play I would consider seeing again and I would seriously hesitate before buying tickets for anything else by LaBute.