In sharp contrast to Noel Coward’s classic The Vortex in the main house at Chichester, Amy Herzog’s 2011 play at the Minerva Studio opposite is a touching and engaging tale of love, grief and growing old which is beautifully played by the small cast on a glorious setting of ninety-one-year-old Vera’s Manhattan flat led by the delightful Eileen Atkins.
When nineteen-year-old Leo (Sebastian Croft) arrives at his grandmother’s flat unexpectedly in the middle of the night after cycling across America from the west coast to the East, a curious revealing relationship develops. We learn that Vera’s husband died ten years prior and that they were both passionate communists and she has lived alone since staying in contact with her neighbour, Jenny by phone. He is a wayward son who during his epic cycle ride has witnessed the death of his friend Mica in a car accident and responded by continuing the journey alone without contact with his family. She is feeling her age with occasional memory loss, and often “can’t find the words” and a frail frame as she moves unsteadily and quietly around the flat. He is awkward and isolated from friends and family with no money and no clear future. Yet as he stays over the weeks, a strong bond develops between them as we see in episodic scenes their companionship develops and he grows up visibly under her influence.
There are plenty of funny lines all delivered by Atkins with consummate comic timing and a wonderful scene where the two relax and reminisce about sex while under the influence of drugs which is beautifully played and slowly revealed. There is good support too from Nell Barlow as Leo’s previous girlfriend, Bec and a young lady he picks up for the night, Amanda (Elizabeth Cru) who Vera quietly walks in on as they roll around the stage. We can sense both Vera and Leo’s grief and loss and enjoy the contrast between her aged infirmity and his thrusting youth. It resonates with any grandparent or parent dealing with their teenage offspring as they grow up together. Richard Eyre's deft touch as Director ensures we warm to them, understand their feelings, and engage with their relationship. 
The show’s sumptuous set designed by Peter Macintosh, is gloriously detailed with glimpses of the entrance hall and kitchen and a spectacular library wall and while it feels appropriate for a Manhattan apartment it does feel a little incongruous with her left-wing communist background. The stage crew quietly adjust the props and pillows to set each scene as their time together passes. There is some delightful atmospheric lighting by Peter Mumford of light streaming through an unseen window blind.This is a charming play, beautifully played, wonderfully set, a comic delight that it is touching and engaging and a thoroughly entertaining well-paced ninety-minute play that deserves a wide audience than the sold-out intimate Minerva studio. It runs to the 10th June.
Review by Nick Wayne
Rating: ★★★★
Seat: Row F | Price of Ticket: £42
