The premise of the play is simple: take two awkward and troubled people with therapists who are clearly crazy, set them up on a date, throw in a gay lover and sit back to watch the chaos develop.
Realistic perfection
The Copenhagen Theatre Circle's performance of 'Beyond Therapy' started well, with the introduction of Bruce and Prudence (the patients), played to awkward but somehow realistic perfection by Pejman Jamal and Astrid Lund. Their first meeting in 'the restaurant' sets the tone for the rest of the play, and the company really made the most of the small stage with a simple yet effective set design.
The therapists were eccentric and played with conviction, with Stuart’s (Alecsandar Stoianov) defence of premature ejaculation and Mrs Wallace's (Sophie Bachet Granados) interactions with Bruce's lover Bob (the always entertaining Mario Paganini) being particular highlights. There were easy laughs throughout the therapy scenes, and a confrontation scene between Bruce, Prudence and Bob was particularly well done.
Let down by the script
Despite great efforts by the actors, the script leant itself to repetitiveness and some lines just baffled the audience. The homophobia of both therapists also seemed very out of place, perhaps because it was not made clear when the action was happening through the set or costumes.
Coupled with a brilliant but sporadic range of accents from the cast, the play seemed to be set in a bubble outside of any time or place, which would be brilliant if it were intentional. Certain plot points or crises were simply abandoned or glossed over, and it all ended rather strangely.
It seems as though what let this production down was the play – the actors had enough charm to pull it through, but perhaps a reworking of the script was required to really fulfil the production's potential.
Beyond Therapy
ends Sat Oct 11; Krudttønden, Serridslevvej 2, Cph Ø; weekdays 19:30, weekends 17:00; tickets 140kr, discounts for groups, students and CTC members, tickets@ctcircle.dk, ctcircle.dk
