A VERY CIVIL CRIME
Meet Robert, a retired barrister, working in a charity shop as we meet him, cautiously sniffing trousers and appreciating candelabras. Nothing unusual there in a rural Suffolk town. Nor is it unusual for such a chap to reminisce about his life, work, schooldays enemy Pilkington, small love affairs and Judy, the girl he brought home who wasnt “good enough for the house” or for him. So he married dull golf ‘n yachting Elizabeth, for a bit, and two offspring
. . Only as it turns out, what Robert really wants to tell us is that he is a criminal. He did a serious crime.
And so, tantalizingly we see Michael Fenton Stevens as Robert cheerfully recounting the twists and turns in an irreproachable upper-middle life. We learn the significance of Uncle Geoffrey, an unspiritual view on yoga, and why a plastic dustpan can alert a man to the need for stern action. And to a court appearance, involving legal disagreement over whether some crimes are more excusable if they involve a detached house.
Jon Canter’s elegant little play takes us all the way to the preposterous yet alrmingly probable . And to sympathy with Robert because we all know several Roberts…
A delicate little gem of observation, mockingly affectionate and beautifully performed. Enjoy!
Thecut.org.uk. On sat 22 nov
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