We knew from the multi-award-winning Clybourne Park that Bruce Norris was a pull-no-punches kind of writer, constantly poised to slice through the soft belly of American life. He does exactly the same thing in Purple Heart (2002), here receiving its UK premiere, as he obliquely examines the fallout from the Vietnam war via a suburban family.
Exploding received wisdom is one of the things Norris does best and here he turns his focus on the topic of grief, as Carla (Amelia Lowdell) refuses to follow conventional patterns of mourning for her late soldier husband, himself no hero as we later learn. She longs for compassion and connection rather than the “grief casseroles” her neighbours bring and, finding none, turns to drink. It’s a complex part and one that Lowdell doesn’t bring to fully realised life.
Grimly compelling as Norris’s nihilism is, the writing has its arid moments, although Christopher Haydon’s production navigates capably through them. There’s strong support from Linda Broughton as Carla’s mother-in-law, who witters about local trivialities rather than confront the loss she too has suffered.
Until April 6 (020 7229 0706, gatetheatre.co.uk)
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