Playwright Mike Bartlett could never be accused of avoiding the big subjects. His latest play is a state of the nation drama set on a farm whose new owner is a wealthy woman with high ideals. Ruth (Hattie Morahan) is the ultimate white liberal do-gooder, with dreams of turning the place into an organic, pesticide-free haven while turning a profit. It’s a bit like The Good Life expanded to the edge of infinity.
A companion piece to Bartlett’s Albion, it pits opposites against each other in a more calculated way; Ruth and her monosyllabic farmer husband Lip (Sam Troughton) are at odds to begin with in spite of sharing the same dream. When Ruth’s hyperactive former stepdaughter Milly (Nadia Parkes) arrives with Femi (Terique Jarrett), her smartass academic boyfriend embarking on ‘an MSC in contemporary rural ecology’, the stage is set – rather too conspicuously – for a clash of ideals, facts and fantasies.
Neighbouring farmer Tony (Jonathan Slinger), whose liberal use of pesticide is commercially successful, brings the brew to a boil. His pragmatic approach is an affront to the newcomers, who banter and snipe at each other over sustainability and sound ecological practice.
Directed by the estimable James Macdonald on a set of real earth and grass, the arguments are played out with Bartlett’s characteristically fizzy dialogue; “Thought I was a disastrous prick,” says Tony. “Turns out none of it’s my fault!”, blitzing therapists in a single line.
As Lip descends into anti-capitalist self-sufficiency, Ruth retreats to London while Milly joins Lip in his agrarian Utopia. Even Femi is persuaded to change his progressive views. All of this would work well, if Bartlett had created anything approaching real people on stage in the theatre, instead of ciphers to deliver the debate on the creeping cancer of compromise and the dangers of extremism. None of the relationships are remotely believable, in spite of the actors’ best efforts. Great performances, shame about the play.
JUNIPER BLOOD AT THE DONMAR TO OCTOBER 4