People's Theatre
22 May 2012
Have you ever thought of what it might be like to have the shoe on the other foot, maybe to see things from a different perspective. Well, playwright, actress, novelist and screenwriter Yasmina Reza, has served up a treat for those of us that possess such an inkling.
Life X 3 is a play about the complexities of the title, life. What is going on with life one minute, within the blink of an eye or the existence of a sublime parallel universe, could be totally different, for the better, maybe for the worse.
Reza has created a study of how we understand each other, the study of how intricate we seem, feel and behave.
With Life X 3 it all seemed fairly straight forward, Henry (Joe McLaughlin) and Sonia (Lauren Breese) are really struggling to cope with not only their child, who refuses to settle for bed, but with their own relationship, maybe the ship has sailed for them.
Henry is planning the next night when he could receive a step up the ladder from Hubert, his boss.
Hubert (John MacDonald) and Inez (Maggie Childs), his wife, are due to call around for dinner to discuss Henry's paper that if published, could push them both to a different place.
With the already turmoil in the Henry household, the dinner guests turn up one night early. With their own troubles of neurotic and inner turmoil, the air is full of bravado, put downs and one-upmanship.
The ending is probably as we expected it to be, and the interval lights are shone.
Back to the second half, the same play is reworked twice, with the same characters, taking on a different mindset, a different approach, even the child is quite sweet in the third offering.
What is fascinating are the facts that we already know within the play after Act 1, and how stretched Reza makes them after this, this makes for brilliant viewable thought provoking theatre.
Not only is the writing spot on, but the acting and how it is put across to the well filled studio audience, is very good. When you can feel the tension of what is going on stage, well up inside of you, then you know it is hitting the spot. well done to the cast and directors, Brian Green, Leah Page, with the cast putting their collective thoughts into the fire too.
Life X 3 is a really clever play, think of the films, Groundhog Day mixed with Sliding Doors, with emotions and humour abound.
Life X 3 plays until 26th May
Michael Hunter
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