Salt – Royal Exchange Studio, Manchester

Writer: Fiona Peek

Director: Jo Combes

Reviewer: John Roberts

The Public Reviews Rating:

Salt is the first of this year’s Bruntwood playwriting competition winners to be stages at the Royal Exchange. It is writer Fiona Peek’s first full length piece and one which asks just as many questions than it answers, in a dry and cutting exploration of two middle class couples and their relationships with each other.

Salt can bring out the best in food, or it can overpower it so much that it spoils and becomes inedible. Salt can be used as a natural healer if used in the right way, if abused it can hurt and cause far more pain and damage than is necessary. Salt is a natural commodity that we often take for granted, but when it is gone we often realise how important it was. These three things can be used to explain the fractious relationships on show in Peek’s play.

Amy & Simon (and two children) are living the life of luxury in their swanky apartment, Amy a successful artist and Simon a solicitor earning a good wage and having the luxury of being able to afford most if not all the things they could desire. On the other hand Nick & Rachel are massively in debt. They are defaulting on their mortgage and have been longing for a child, after several failed attempts they almost give up hoping. Peeks tantalising play pits both of these couples who are long time friends together in a series of time elapsing vignettes over several dinner parties and over the course of the year in which the play takes place several secrets are unravelled that will test their friendships and their relationships to their peak, but will pride stand in their way, and risk both couples losing everything?

Peek’s gifting lies firmly in her incredible way of creating natural dialogue, never does the language grate or jar against what is being played on stage, something with which is often missing in a lot of newer pieces. Peek’s play is masterfully woven bringing some cutting and razor sharp dialogue and juxtaposing them against rare comedic one-liners that leave you as a viewer not only laughing but also shocked at the same time.

Director Jo Combes is no stranger to pieces with strong relationship themes and is the perfect fit to direct this world premier. She has managed to craft an energetic production with plenty of movement something which is not an easy task considering every scene takes place in the same location. There are some nice touches, the live cooking being just one of them as the smells tantalise and delight the salivating audience members and the dancing and singing whilst preparing another meal is a delight to watch.

The Set designed by Ben Stones is strong and makes a huge impact in the confined space of the Stuido theatre, opting for an open plan Kitchen/Dining area of an upmarket apartment and setting it in traverse, we as the audience can’t help but be complete on lookers to the relationships that are fraying in front of us.

Simon Chadwick (Simon) is wonderfully pompus and self righteous and gives a strong and finely tuned performance, Beth Cordingly as Amy adds a nice flamboyancy to the four strong cast and comes into her own during the final third of the production. Kevin Harvey as Nick has a very difficult role to play, and he gives a startlingly brutal and naturalistic turn which at times made this reviewer very uncomfortable watching his character unfold, but it is the performance of Esther Hall as Rachel that gives the strongest performance, this really is a masterclass of stage acting by one of our country’s finest actresses, and her emotional breakdown during the later part of the play is nothing short of heartbreaking brilliance.

This production might not be everybody’s cup of tea, it may also prove a little difficult to watch, and the characters might alienate some by being a little bit too pretentious than one would like, but this production thanks to Combes’ direction and Peek’s writing is a disturbing look at pride, self-pity, friendship and love that nearly everyone who watches it can leave the theatre learning a thing or two.