The Gathered Leaves is a play which, at the outset, feels like a theme played out on stage many times before: a family gathering for a momentous occasion, with tensions quietly moving beneath the surface before they finally explode. But the fact that this is the only play ever to return twice to the Park Theatre suggests it has something special – and it does.
The Pennington family come together for the first time in 17 years to celebrate patriarch William’s 75th birthday. The play opens with two young boys, Joe Burrel as Samuel and Ellis Elijah as Giles, in a slightly confusing scene that quickly makes sense when the action shifts to the present. Samuel (Richard Stirling) and Giles (Chris Larkin) are now grown, and Samuel’s photographic memory takes on new significance as we see him as an adult with severe autism.
As the weekend begins, Olivia (Joanne Pearce), their mother, arrives – scattered yet charming, an upper-class matriarch whose long-suffering patience becomes more understandable as the play unfolds.
William (Jonathan Hyde), her husband and the domineering paterfamilias, enters with Giles’s wife Sophie (Zoë Waites) and their children, Simon (George Lorimer) and Emily (Ella Dale). The greatest disruption, however, comes with the return of the youngest child Alice (Olivia Vinall) and her teenage daughter Aurelia (Taneetrah Porter), whose conception triggers the family schism.
Keatley plunges us into these dynamics without delay. William quickly establishes himself as a domestic tyrant, ignoring Alice on arrival, berating Giles over lateness. At first Hyde plays the role as a stereotype, but as scenes progress, he gains nuance: tender moments with Olivia and a striking exchange with Aurelia reveal more than the caricature of a tyrant.
Giles and Samuel’s relationship becomes the emotional heart of the play. Their scenes are warm, genuine, and deeply moving, with Larkin’s acting as Giles standing out as the highlight of the production and Stirling’s portrayal of autism remaining sensitive and sympathetic.
The play works because Keatley builds characters beyond their first impressions. At all points, the audience feels something for William, Samuel, Olivia, even Aurelia. This prevents the play from feeling run-of-the-mill, transforming it into a production that, within two and a half hours, offers something resonant and human. Adrian Noble’s direction sustains momentum, lifting wordier sections of dialogue into compelling theatre.
Not all elements succeed. The female roles sometimes falter, particularly Waites’s Sophie, whose acting feels thin and occasionally unintentionally comic. Her scenes with Larkin never carry the weight they promise, and at times risk derailing the tension. Similarly, Alice’s character, while played well by Vinall, lacks substance.
Dick Bird’s set is simple but effective, conjuring a 1990s English countryside drawing room through details like Uno, Trivial Pursuit, a battered Sky remote, and stacks of Country Life. The sound design is especially strong, with birdsong and countryside ambience creating the sense of being inside the Pennington home.
The Gathered Leaves may seem familiar in premise, but Keatley’s empathetic writing and Noble’s assured direction create something more layered. It is a drama about family, trauma, and memory, offering moments of tenderness alongside confrontation. Though not flawless, it is easy to see why this is the only play to return twice to the Park Theatre. Beneath its familiar framework lies a production of honesty and emotional depth that lingers long after the curtain falls.
By Andrew Keatley
Director: Adrian Noble
Photo Credit: Richard Southgate
Cast includes: Jonathan Hyde ; Richard Stirling; Chris Larkin; Olivia Vinall; Joanne Pearce
Until: Saturday 20th September 2025
Running Time: 2 hours and 40 mins (including one interval)