REVIEW: The Line
By Jasmine Coleman
The life of French painter, Edgar Degas, is drawn with a beautiful but flawed line in Timberlake Wertenbaker's new play at the Arcola Theatre in Dalston.
Two-time Oliver Award winner, Henry Goodman, stars as the turn-of-the-century artist, whose private and regimented life is interrupted by a tempestuous and strong-minded young mother, Suzanne Valadon, who is determined to become his pupil.
Based on a true friendship between the two, "The Line" traces their relationship as artist and muse, teacher and student, man and woman set on a backdrop of changing times on the cusp of the 20th century.
Although she started her career as a circus acrobat at 15 and later modelled for Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Suzanne went on to become a celebrated artist herself, as well as the mother of Montmartre painter, Maurice Utrillo. She and Degas remained friends until his death in 1917.
Goodman delivers a warm performance as a man bolstered by the women around him - Suzanne, played by Sarah Smart, and his devoted housekeeper, Zoé Closier (Selina Cadell). He is explosive, funny, passionate and weak.
The set, hung with prints of Degas's paintings, is evocative, and as the sketches unfold in-the-round, the play becomes a true spectacle - a piece of art in itself.
However, this clever composition is disturbed by Smart's "I-just-want-to-be-me" self-styled strong female. Suzanne clearly challenges Degas and his carefully balanced existence, but Smart's foot stomping and over-the-top hysteria is too constant and awkward to build a believable connection between them.
London-based playwright, Wertenbaker, has her duck in and out of Degas's life but the drama of their reunion just is not there. Cadell's graceful and solid performance as kind-hearted battleaxe, Zoé, holds the three of them together, just.
As a result, Smart is far more appealing as the frozen muse, cleverly mirroring the women in Degas's works. And overall, Wertenbaker seems much more intent on reflecting reality with this play than creating drama.
The script is heavy with description. It draws on the realism of Honoré de Balzac and the naturalism of :mile Zola, both influential French writers of the time, and references artistic techniques and historical context closely. But sadly this leads to a tendency to explain the story rather than show it.
As a final piece, "The Line" is too drawn out and a bit heavy-handed but it paints a pleasant picture.
"The Line" is running at the Arcola Theatre on Arcola Street from until December 12. Tickets, priced at £10 for preview dates or £16 and £10 for concessions, are available at www.arcolatheatre.com or call 020 7503 1646.
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