Lower Ninth *** TNT
Stranded on a rooftop, two African-Americans sweat, bicker, banter and wonder whether anyone will come to their rescue before it’s too late for them, just as it is already for the garbage bag covered corpse of their drug-dealing friend whose body, hauled from the rising water, lies decomposing next to them.
Kicking off the Donmar’s first Trafalgar Studios season showcasing the work of its Resident Assistant Directors, Charlotte Westenra’s atmospheric production of American playwright Beau Willimon’s short new play takes us back to 2005 when the Mississippi flooded its banks in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans became a watery grave for hundreds of inhabitants - and the failure of the emergency services subsequently claimed the lives of many more.
The dialogue fizzes in the early scenes as young E-Z and older bible-spouting Malcolm try to outwit each other in a time-passing game of twenty questions. Malcolm was once a bad boy who, years ago, walked out on E-Z’s now dead mother and has since found God. But Willimon only offers tantalising hints of their past lives, focussing on their current predicament as, without food or water, their condition deteriorates.
Like its protagonists, the play can’t find a way forward, but Ray Fearon and Anthony Welsh are superb as, respectively, born-again Malcolm struggling to maintain control over a still volatile temper and edgy, resentful E-Z who’s more scared than he wants to let on.
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