Review: The Door at the Park Theatre

The Door
Park Theatre (Park 90)

Reviewed on Thursday 14th November 2013

The Park Theatre has become known for its innovative, thought provoking productions and its latest offering, The Door, completely embodies this. Written by Cherise Cross, it is the first of a trilogy, with the rest being planned for 2014, and is based on Cross’ own battle with insomnia.

Entering the Park 90 studio, the space is dimly lit with four stools and desk lamps placed in the centre of the room. We are soon introduced to John (Philip Nightingale) who has been suffering from chronic insomnia for two years. He is attending his first group therapy session and his nervousness and trepidation is clear to see. In the therapy session we meet therapist Lisa (Adele Keating) and fellow sufferers Tim (James Naylor) and Karen (Stephanie Lodge). 

Things begin to get confusing when John agrees to submit to hypnosis as a way of opening himself up and discovering the cause of his insomnia. A man in a suit appears (Robert Bradley) telling Lisa to stick to the plan, and this is where I really got lost. It seems that John is confusing Lisa with Anna, a woman that he has been dating – is Lisa actually Anna or is this caused by his sleep deprivation. As hard as John finds it to distinguish between what is real and what is in his head, so too do the audience struggle. 

Nightingale and Keating give heartfelt and emotional performances and you can completely empathise with how frustrated John must be. The sound design is also key to the performance, with distorted noises and loud knocking adding another dimension to the production. The set is simple but effective with all available space in the studio being used to its full advantage. 

I expected to be confused by The Door, but I left the theatre feeling completely baffled. There seemed to be a number of questions that were not addressed at all and the question of the door remained unanswered. 

Although I felt riveted by the production I didn’t feel as though it fully drew me in and it left me feeling as though it was made more complicated than necessary in its attempt to be obscure. I look forward to seeing Cross’ other productions in the coming year.

Reviewed by Laura Kate Jones

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The Door runs at The Park Theatre until 1st December.
Please visit www.parktheatre.co.uk for further information and tickets.

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