Review: A Shining Intimacy, Tobacco Factory Theatres – ‘A sensitive depiction of loss for a loved friend’

‘A Shining Intimacy’ was the phrase deployed to describe the enduring friendship between two of Britain’s national treasures, Kenneth Williams and Maggie Smith.

They first met when starting out their careers in a revue show going by the ridiculous title Call My Lettuce and went on to not only collaborate with each other but to support and champion their own private lives and careers.

In this show Tom Marshman uses an array of background research from television and radio interviews, diaries and memoirs to mirror his own friendship with the late artist Clare Thornton.

The narrative deploys several performance mechanisms to tell both stories and explore the couples’ relationships as performers as well as their intensely personal struggles.

Where the show is at its best is in the sensitive depiction of loss for a loved friend and the curious way that human memory is selective when conjuring up the idiosyncrasies, phrases and mannerisms of those we have lost. Having suffered bereavements recently these hit home forcefully and is a reminder that it is the haunting powerlessness to wholly recreate a lost person that is the most painful.

Marshman’s set helps recreate all absent characters through a skilful use of back video projection and use of ephemera dotted about the stage. These are revealed in a logical sequence and use Marshman’s mimicry to great effect in being able to see both Kenneth and Maggie recount some of their best bon mots.

He plays both actors sitting back to back in a mythical changing room and occasionally pops up between them to amplify the stories swapped between them. The show also works very well in recreating a world unknown to many in the audience of the early days of camp humour which has helped form much of the basis of current LGBTQ+ culture.

What is much less successful is not so much the shining intimacy but the glaring inadequacy of the comparison of the two sets of friends. The juxtaposition of two of the much-loved members of stage and screen with a pair of performance artists simply does not resonate. When Marshman says that he wrote to Maggie Smith to ask her about the thread between performer and audience and gets no reply, we are not surprised.

There were also several disappointing lapses with the script which coupled with some cue mistakes contributed to the impression that this was not as professional a show as it could have been. These mistakes are never intended, of course, but they were far too noticeable. The impersonations, although spirited, are not always accurate enough to convince and have certainly been attempted more faithfully by others.

The piece works well as an example of fringe theatre performance art but ultimately failed to justify some of the claims made about the more profound message given in the advance promotional material.

A Shining Intimacy is at Tobacco Factory Theatres on May 9-12 at 7.30pm. Tickets are available at www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com.

All photos: Vonalina Cake

Read more: ‘A Shining Intimacy’: Tom Marshman presents a show about theatre, grief, and queer friendships

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