Review: A PUPIL, Park Theatre

When seventeen-year-old Simona (Flora Spencer-Longhurst) shows up at Ye's (Lucy Sheen) North London flat with an attitude and a talent for the violin, the aging musician is forced to take a hard look at how success and greatness affect the artistic side of life.

Written by Jesse Briton and directed by Jessica Daniels, A Pupil is a compelling story about people's love (and obsession) of music but displays one too many faux pas. The presentation in the round certainly gifts the public with the best conditions to appreciate Spencer-Longhurst's mastery at the instrument, it does, however, have an impact on the vibe, as the relative immobility of the direction means there's an abundance of blind sides for the audience.

Another misstep comes from the casting of Simona, whose Russian background plays a big part in the play. Spencer-Longhurst's turns up a notch on her character's brattiness and truly shines whenever she holds her violin. There's a certain cultural insensitivity shown by her overdone, crass accent that's not even fair to thrust fully upon her, as she delivers a detailed performance topped with mesmerising musical skills.

Unfortunately, Sheen's representation of depression and hopelessness hits the right targets but the temperamental disposition of the piece doesn't make it a well-rounded portrayal. It's only her exchanges with her landlady Mary (Melanie Marshall) and old friend Phyllida (Carolyn Backhouse) that show what the character could be.

Briton's exploration of the significance and importance of art and biting one-liners get lost within the unfortunate slipups, and not even Jessica Staton's suggestive set design (which involves strings delineating the stage and about a dozen violins hanging from the ceiling) doesn't successfully manage to save a rather technically sloppy production.

A Pupil runs at Park Theatre until 24 November.

Photo credit: Meurig Marshall

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