The Gathered Leaves, Park Theatre review: Unsettling and funny family affair that’s full of dirty secrets

A humane, deliberately old-fashioned play, says Henry Hitchings
Acting dynasties: Georgina Beedle, left, Jane Asher, her daughter Katie Scarfe, Tom Hanson, Clive Francis and Tom’s father Alexander Hanson at a press night party (Picture: Dave Benett)
Dave Benett
Henry Hitchings5 August 2015

Andrew Keatley's meaty family drama stars two generations of two theatrical families — Jane Asher and her daughter Katie Scarfe, as well as Alexander Hanson and his son Tom. That’s enough to pique one’s curiosity, and a strong cast of 11 illuminates what turns out to be an amusing and unsettling story of dirty secrets and oppressive legacies.

Asher plays Olivia, an elegant woman whose poise collapses beneath the weight of other people’s rudeness. She is married to Clive Francis’s vinegary William, who seems to be suffering from dementia and inflicts his opinions on all around him. Keatley has set the action in the spring of 1997, as a Conservative government falters amid reports of sleaze, and William’s criticisms of dishonourable politicians are linked to concerns about the grubbier elements of his own past.

These threaten to resurface as his family gathers to celebrate his 75th birthday. All three of his children come with a good deal of baggage. There’s autistic Samuel (Nick Sampson), who oscillates between charming innocence and disturbing helplessness. His brother Giles (a wonderfully fluent Alexander Hanson) has to navigate the anxieties of his wife and two bickering children. And then there’s Alice (Scarfe), engaging with her father for the first time in years and accompanied by her mixed-race daughter Aurelia (buoyant newcomer Amber James).

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1/50

The tension increases after the interval. A game of Trivial Pursuit becomes violently competitive and reveals William at his most arrogant, while also suggesting the extent to which his faults have been passed on to his grandson Simon (Tom Hanson, revelling in the character’s obnoxiousness). Later, the presentation of birthday gifts turns into another absurd charade.

In truth the exposition is too slow and the transitions between scenes can feel bumpy, but Keatley is perceptive and funny about the details of domestic awkwardness. He has crafted a humane, deliberately old-fashioned play, and Antony Eden’s sensitive production locates its emotional truthfulness.

Until August 15; parktheatre.co.uk

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