Review: KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, Menier Chocolate Factory

Kiss of the Spider Woman has taken the shape of a novel, a play, a film, and a musical in the past. It's now being adapted for the stage again by José Rivera and Allan Baker. Directed by Laurie Sansom, Manuel Puig's work becomes a story of acceptance and hope.

The charges the characters face couldn't be more different: Valentin is a left-wing political prisoner and Molina is imprisoned for "gross indecency". They start the plot diametrically opposed, but end it as one. Little by little, they enter each other's souls and assist in a battle between identity and society. The only casting reproach is that neither of them is actually South American, which one could say completely whitewashes the show.

Samuel Barnett's Molina is delicate and flamboyant as he describes the films he's watched before being arrested. He tells Declan Bennett's Valentin that his descriptions are merely intended to pass the time but, as the lights go out, he sets fire to his cellmate's imagination, actually revealing all his darkest desires.

He recounts the flicks with theatrical and highly descriptive gestures, getting into his beloved characters and escaping reality for a moment. Valentin loves every minute of it and as Barnett speaks they both soar above their existences. Their shared intimacy grows deeper by the day until they both undergo a profound change.

Designer Jon Bausor shuffles the Menier around and pins the vast stage to one of the corners. He creates a cutaway of a prison cell, surrounding it by dirt on two sides and the rest by bare walls and walkways. The set is highly realistic and impressively detailed, but looks quite excessive in its rawness.

The framing of the men themselves seems also a tad overdone. Molina's storytelling is almost downplayed by Andrzej Goulding's light projections on the walls. The intentions are good and Goulding's videos are exquisite and elegant in their nature as their colours and figurines mirror the prisoner's tales and transport the audience to the men's minds.

By doing so, however, the production pulls the attention away from Barnett and shrinks the crowd's imagination to mere attendance. Sansom sets a firm pace to the piece, dividing the scenes clearly with dynamic and quick changes; running at one hour and 40 minutes without an interval, these elements make the play flow effortlessly.

They might have inadvertently tried to bury Barnett and Bennett under an elaborate set and glitzy projections, but the actors are the true heart of the show. Their performances, albeit being of evident clichés (straight macho versus camp man), are subtle and heartfelt and they doubtlessly build well-rounded characters. They portray two men who begin their journey at different poles but end up in the same trench.

While Barnett shines as his Molina talks about his passion and weaves stories to help them both run away, Bennett's take is more grounded and earthy. His presence balances Barnett's perfectly: while the first oozes masculinity and is at ease with his body and sexuality from the start, the latter is a vulnerable and sensitive man.

As their jail experience progresses and they become closer, Sansom's adaptation digs deeper into the human sphere. He strips them away of any sexuality per se, never addressing what's happening between the two and single-handedly turning the heartbreaking tragedy into a tearjerking Hollywood melodrama.

Kiss of the Spider Woman runs at Menier Chocolate Factory until 5 May.

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