Nuclear power can be both violent and passive: fission or decay. We humans can control the violence; nuclear power plants create electricity by forcefully splitting an atom’s nucleus. What we cannot control is the slow decay of unstable atoms as they release energy. The Children at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre asks a related question: when should humans have control, and when should they relinquish it?
Walking into the auditorium, I was greeted by an enormous nuclear reactor arching high towards the ceiling, faced with dark concrete. The stage floor, however, is filled with the cosy interior of a seaside cottage: two worn armchairs, wood panelling and a squeaky screen door. The juxtaposition of the intimidating nuclear structure and the quaint cottage looms over the whole play. Gary McCann’s set design adeptly braces the audience for the heartbreaking choices our three characters must face while dealing with the sins of their past.
Hazel (Meera Syal) and Robin (Declan Conlon) are retired nuclear physicists who have survived a disaster at the local nuclear power plant where they once worked. Rose (Kerry Fox), an old colleague, arrives unannounced at Hazel and Robin’s seaside cottage to ask for their assistance and confront the shared past between the three. As a young actor, it was a pleasure to see these three expert performers steer the plot of The Children with such ease.
Meera Syal as Hazel really takes the reins of the show whenever she enters the living room. Her oscillation between comedy and tragedy never lets me move from the edge of my seat. Hazel is a complicated character who wishes to remain in control after the world has blown up. Towards the end of the show, Hazel is presented with an ultimate choice by Rose that is truly a matter of life and death. It is riveting to watch Syal handle the pressure of that choice, panic gripping her as she still desperately fights for the life she has constructed.
One brilliant moment deserves particular mention. Towards the end, Hazel delivers a heartbreaking speech about waking up and simply wanting her mother again. In the hands of a lesser actor, these lines could be melodramatic, but Syal delivers them with the simplest anguish, expressing all the weight Hazel carries with her.
One reservation I had about this production was that its emotional temperature never quite reached the peaks I was hoping for. There are dark secrets and actions committed by the characters that made me feel the passion in the room could reach a ten, but it only ever got to an eight. All three actors are masters of naturalistic acting, and I felt their choices were grounded and thoughtful throughout. However, extraordinary circumstances can provoke extraordinary reactions.
I’m trying not to reveal too much of the plot for those who have never seen the play, but suffice it to say that there are revelations about the past where the actors remain on the back foot rather than driving the story forward. It is a difficult balance. The Children revolves around the agony that people’s pasts inflict upon them, and there is a level of exhaustion that understandably accompanies those feelings.
For instance, Declan Conlon as Robin has a speech about an affair he almost had years ago, and I never quite felt the frustration emerge from him, only the weariness. Robin, Rose and Hazel all grapple with remorse, and I wanted the actors to have a little more dynamite in their chests.
This 10-year anniversary production of The Children is a phenomenal revival that remains pertinent in a world still deeply concerned with fuelling our enormous demand for electricity. It also continues to be a beautiful depiction of age and the delicacy of natural decay. Meera Syal, Kerry Fox and Declan Conlon are all masters of their craft and should not be overlooked by anyone who loves strong acting.
Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
Drama
The Children
By Lucy Kirkwood
Directed by Rachel O’Riordan
Cast includes: Meera Syal, Kerry Fox, Declan Conlon
Until 3 October
90 minutes, no interval