RAW That Face – five.point.one – Bakehouse – 3.5K

The capacity of the family unit to produce simultaneously both farce and tragedy was observed on two consecutive nights this week; Wednesday’s offering was the medieval machinations of the Lancasters and Yorks in Richard III at AC Arts and then last evening at five.point.one’s production of Polly Stenham’s That Face at the Bakehouse (written in 2007).

I suppose not much separates the two family mayhems that play out other than the modern day use of money and distance to attempt to solve problems that those with ultimate responsibility ought to have dealt with up front.

School drop-out Henry, 18 (Matt Crook) tends to his drunk and somewhat deranged mother, Martha, (Tamara Lee)  while other members of the family stay clear; his sister Mia (Elleni Karagiannidis) is in boarding school and quite bereft of any sort of moral compass and their father, wealthy money trader Hugh (John Maurice) has flown the coup to shack up with a local in Hong Kong.

When Hugh needs to come home to sort out a big mess created at school by Mia, tensions mount as the moments tick by to his imminent arrival.

There are times in the first half of That Face where you wonder whether this is going to elevate itself above the slightly manic. Matt Crook provides the antidote to those worries with a deeply moving performance that seems to trigger all the other players into new life. Crook, already for one quite young, has quite some credit list and performing here as he does, sometimes half naked and then in women’s clothing, ensures this can be added high up on that tally.

Having seen Maurice in Misery, he must wonder when he gets to play a role that doesn’t have him being dropped into the midst of female mania. As always his ability to play the role of the isolated middle aged man is spot on.

Tamara Lee warms to her task and her later moments with her tormented son resonate with any who have seen the damage that can be done to young men by split families. Kate Roxby’s Izzy, the brat boarding house prefect, is also a fine performance.

With highly efficient staging, the five.point.one team has done it again with a modern work that tears the fabric of our society in front of eyes (like those of Hugh) that would most often prefer to not see.

Matt Crook needs to be added to any future stars watch list you may be compiling.

Kryztoff Rating  3.5K