I have only read one of Neil Gaiman's novels, the topsy-turvy London adventure NEVERWHERE, but have seen him onstage playing wingman to his missus Amanda Palmer, and even met him once ten years ago when we bumped into the two of them taking photographs in the Vaudeville Theatre foyer. Luckily Owen had one of Amanda's badges on so we got a hug and told her we were seeing her soon at the Union Chapel. While queueing that night for a signed cd, Neil Gaiman nudged Amanda and said "Oh look Amanda, it's the two gentlemen from the theatre". Fame, eh?
Gaiman dedicated THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE to Amanda; it started out as a short story in response to her questions about his childhood, but as he got more involved into the plot it changed to novel-length. Wildly successful, it later won Book of The Year from the British National Book Awards. Gaiman has had no involvement in Joel Horwood's adaptation but there is a connection to Amanda Palmer as a frequent musical collaborator Jhereck Bischoff has composed the score. Not having read the book I had no idea what to expect but it did not take long for me to get involved in the story as well as the way it was told.
A man attends a family funeral and, strolling back to his old house, he strays towards a nearby farmhouse where he encounters an older woman. Prompted by her, he vaguely remembers a girl called Lettie Hempstock, who he was inseparable from when 12 years old, and just about remembers that she moved away. We then flashback to far-flung 1988: he is living with his father and younger sister, and the whole family is silently trying to cope with the death of the children's mother a year ago, his escape being his love of books.
Their lives are further disrupted when the family's former lodger commits suicide after stealing the family car. The boy meets Lettie on the border of her land soon after and when he tells her about the suicide she brings him home to her mother and grandmother to tell them about it too. The women of the farmhouse are strange mystics who believe that the man's suicide - caused by guilt of stealing money - has allowed an evil entity - a 'flea' - to attempt to 'cross over' into the real world. Lettie and the boy set out to destroy the 'flea' by magic but the boy is warned not to let go of Lettie's hand - but during the tumult he accidentally does.
Later that night in his bathroom, the boy extracts a worm from a wound in his hand without realizing he has left a piece inside... which means the 'flea' has escaped into the real world! Shortly after, the boy's dad informs his children that a new lodger is moving in, a woman called Ursula Monckton who bonds with his sister but who the boy takes an instant dislike to. Slowly he realizes Ursula is the 'flea' in human form and soon his father is her pawn too..
With Ursula able to read his mind, he escapes from the house by reciting from memory THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE to block his thoughts. Once safe at the Hempstock farm, the boy and Lettie must again fight evil in the shape of Ursula - but what if there is a greater danger than her?
Director Katy Rudd has a firm hold on the narrative for most of the play - oddly it only lapses at the end where the climactic battle between good and evil seems to plateau out - but she not only gives us a good eerie tale but also a sad portrait of a family struggling with the loss of a wife and mother.
Concentration on the tricksy plot is well-served by Fly Davis' simple set - a thicket of trees serves as a backdrop with all other locations suggested by a few pieces of furniture, this comes into it's own as Ursula spreads her malign influence in the boy's house with her appearing behind every door he opens and, in a particularly scary moment, when the boy casually drops the worm from under his skin into the bath, a bloodied hand reaches out of it. It was one of a few moments when I wondered how the few scattered pre-teens in the audience were handling it!
Paule Constable's lighting is exemplary in illuminating unsettling moments, Steven Hoggett's movement suggests a whirling world of dark undertows and a particular mention to Samuel Wyer's puppet and costume designs - Ursula's pink peg-leg trousers pinpoint the late 80s very well.
In a hard-working cast, three stood out: Pippa Nixon was very good as the smiling intruder Ursula who left the action too soon; her insidious poisoning of the household was an excellent, unexpected plot twist. Justin Salinger was very good as the boy's father, trying hard to keep his two children occupied after their mother's death but not seeing the enemy within; he also played the grown-up boy at the beginning and end but he could do little with the over-emphatic lines of half-finished sentences which meant to show his hesitant forgetfulness but, as Owen said, just made you think no one speaks like that in real life.
But the performance of the night was Samuel Blenkin as boy at the centre of the action. Gawky and uncomfortable, unhappy and sad, he was a very believable anti-hero and delivered a touching and true performance. I think the play could possibly stand another look-at to iron out some pacing issues in the second act but THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE was an unexpected delight and deserves going on to bigger stages: for a fantasy tale, it has a lot of truth in it about memory and loss.
On the night we went, the actress playing the boy's sister was unwell and could not perform and while the Dorfman as is has the same rule as the Cottesloe as was, eg. no understudies, still they managed to find an actress to go on reading the script. Well done whoever she was - there was no slip in the programme and the stage manager mumbled her name. Needless to say she got a nice round at the end...
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