Pentabus have made a name for themselves for their digital theatre work in the past few years, and this live capture is another high quality piece.
In Driftwood, a collaboration with ThickSkin fresh from an autumn tour, the topic turns to death, family, and grief.
Two brothers, Mark (James Westphal) and Tiny (Jerome Yates), are the focus of Tim Foley’s play, set on the shores of Seaton Carew in the North East.
Their town is deprived, and their dad is approaching death. The driftwood and decking on the beach are battered and bruised, the decking forming different scenes as the play progresses.
Co-directed by Neil Bettles and Elle While Driftwood is a two-handed conversation steeped in mysticism and the force of the natural world.
For Mark, the relationship to his father has been fraight and difficult. For Tiny, his closeness as his father’s carer gives him insight and reflection.
Musing about a Viking funeral and barbecue wake gives us an off-kilter starting point for what is quite a reflective play. There’s something hidden deep inside.
With video projections of the sea offering a sense of hope and acceptance within its chaos, Driftwood lets us into a moment a family always dreads.
The small talk while you wait. The memories you share together. The sense of a spirit slipping away, and the body shell when it’s gone. I would have reacted differently to Driftwood before the death of my own father.
Yates gives the more comic performance of the two, the faux bravado of a child in crisis, changing the course of conversations from tough topics to sea creatures. Westphal is practical while covering up his sense of loss.
As the brothers talk about their upbringing, spun from storytelling, Foley’s script brings their experience into the crumbling town, poliuted beaches, and local legends. And above all, what binds the brothers together, however far apart.
Watch Driftwood for free until the 27 Mar – details here. This is in celebration of Pentabus’s 50th birthday and the start of the company’s Spring Digital Season.
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Photo credit: Andrew Billington