River in the Sky is written and directed by Peter Taylor. The play has potential; a two-hander, the unnamed man and woman delve into storytelling to distract them from the grief of losing their baby. The woman, played by Lindsey Cross, runs away to live in an abandoned caravan and has seemingly become agoraphobic from the trauma of it all. Her ex-partner, actor Howard Horner, visits regularly to check on her, bringing tea and biscuits and tentatively discussing their loss, blame and the future they may have together.
From the first scene, I found the characters unconvincing and bland. Cross appeared nervous and awkward onstage, especially in comparison to Horner’s confidence and humour. They both warmed up as the play progressed, but the acting was not gripping enough to keep my focus. The script is slow to reach the plot, the themes of the play aren’t initially evident as too much time is spent on lingering conversations (which, I’m assuming, is to build suspense for the reveal) but unfortunately it made me lose interest. Aside from the witty comments here and there, the script could have done with some fine-tuning before the performance.
