Drama Barn: Deathwatch

This week the Barn hosts an ambitious production of Jean Genet’s one act play, Deathwatch, taking on the hard hitting themes of captivity, insanity and homosexuality. The play revolves around the prison cell of three criminals Lefranc (Edd Riley), Maurice (Nick Armfield), and Green Eyes (Pete Watts), the latter of which is due to be guillotined for murder. Unconventionally staged in a dark corner of the Barn, this minimalistic set immediately depicts the characters’ confinement effectively. We follow the various conversations of the three criminals who engage in an ongoing struggle for power and for the possession of Green Eyes’ girl. This rivalry eventuates in Lefranc’s dramatic murder of Maurice lowering him to Green Eyes’ criminal status.

Undertaking this play was definitely a risk, especially considering the enormous time constraints typically placed upon week 2 plays. Regardless of this, an impressive commitment was shown by the intensity of the production throughout. Even the occasional stumble on lines was smoothly glossed over, not detracting from the engaging performance as a whole.

The intense and confined nature of the staging had the possibility of lending itself to an awkwardness, but this was handled with ease especially more in the second half of the play. Green Eyes states, ‘I don’t give a damn’, and indeed the actors were not afraid of physical contact or long silences, which were both key elements in building tension throughout the play. Another potential downfall of such a confined set is it becoming visually dull for the audience, which the director (Joseph Williams) effectively addressed with constant subtle and delicate movements of the characters, creating multiple settings in what was simply a doorway.

The moments of homosexuality were the highlights of the play demonstrating both Armfield’s and Watts’ skill as actors. Maurice’s character is constantly dependent upon Green Eyes and Lefranc, the former of which he desires. Maurice’s character is not caricatured, which can be an easy trap to fall into with such an effeminate role. He showed great skill, particularly in portraying fear with believability, in his breakout speech to Lefranc in the last moments before his death. Moments of aggression including the death scene were carried out smoothly throughout the play. In spite of this, I wanted more of a climax from this scene, perhaps the tension could have been built up more by Lefranc, whose naturalistic approach to the character meant that he didn’t seem to lose himself enough in the build up to this act of pure insanity and aggression.

However, after the death scene and particularly when conversing with the guard (Rhys Hayes), he showed strong acting ability and good comic timing. The guard, described as the ‘opposite of the thugs’, fulfilled this criteria with a well-executed boy-like smugness. With only a minor role in the hour-long production, he placed his stamp on the performance delivering comic lines with ease and confidence.

Yet, it was Watts, as Green Eyes, that shone in this performance. Being presented with a difficult and complex character he was forced to draw upon a kaleidoscope of emotions yet he moved between each with great talent and believability. His stage presence drew you to him even in his moments of pensive silence and he delivered comedy the most successfully of the actors.

Overall, the play was a great achievement, displaying excellent acting skill and a fearless approach to pushing the boundaries of conventional masculinity. Although the ending could have reached a more dramatic climax, it was a highly commendable performance.