Photo credit: Felix Kunze
In a small, not especially cosy apartment in the New York borough, teenage siblings Lindsay (Jessica Ashworth) and Brian (Michael Goldsmith) are trying to kill a rat. While they may not be having much luck with their weapons of choice (two sink plungers and a rolling pin), they stand quite a good chance of driving the rodent out with its paws over its ears thanks to the machine-gunned expletives they repeatedly spit at each other and their unwanted furry houseguest.
Writer Rose Martula has a wonderful ear for vulgarity, and her dialogue crackles in the air, with the actors clearly relishing the lines they are given. There's a great chemistry between the actors and the scene is apparently set for a knockabout, richly comic piece. However, the mood changes dramatically in the second scene, set one year later, with the arrival of their father Saul (Jud Charlton), a coke-sniffing shambles of a man who's overly enamored of the sound of his own voice. Lindsay becomes quieter and more introverted, Brian more scornful and dripping with barely-suppressed fury, and the play itself echoes Saul's ever-changing moods, switching from moments of quickfired barbs between the family to darker, more tense moments as an air of menace invades their apartment.Brooklyn is at the c*ckTavern Theatre until 26 September 2009. Read Carrie's interview with playwright Rose Martula here.
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