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WALDEN



When: 3rd June 2021 (Matinee)

Where: The Harold Pinter Theatre, London

Writer: Amy Berryman

Director: Ian Rickson


(Spoilers ahead)

When I first read the description of the play I thought this was going to be just another dystopian sci fi. Although I was excited to see how this would be portrayed on stage, I didn't think it would be anything special. I was very wrong.

I would describe the play as having two main focuses, a major and a minor. The minor is that of the space exploration and Cassie's mission to the moon versus saving the current planet. However, the major is of a story of two sisters. Stella (Gemma Arterton) is living in a log cabin somewhere in the woods, with her fiance Bryan (Fehinti Balogun) and Cassie (Lydia Wilson) on the other hand has just returned from a year long NASA mission to the Moon. Amy Berryman clearly sets out her intentions to explore the relationships in the first scene of the play. Stella and Bryan are anticipating the arrival of Cassie, and they talk of all the things not to bring up, and how to act in front of her. It is obvious that Stella has a rocky relationship with her sister, although we work out that it is nothing really directly to do with Cassie. But rather, she has everything Stella thought she wanted for herself, but was unable to achieve, through no fault of her own. 

The emotion varies throughout the play, first awkwardness, neither sister are sure what to say. Once the play is in full swing, much of the emotion is anger, but for many reasons. Some is anger at each other, both sisters are jealous in some way of each others lives. They are also both frustrated at the situations they ended up in, Stella struggles with the reality of nothing going the way she planned and Cassie finds it difficult to accept that maybe what she got isn't exactly what she wanted. I also think there is a lot of love intertwined within this anger, both sisters love each other and therefore there is also a few moments of regret, particularly after their fights.

The play presents space and space exploration as Stella's lifelong dream. However, I couldn't help but wonder whether her actual dream was simply to have purpose and due to her upbringing and the life her father led that space was the only way she knew how. Stella's life seems to go from one extreme to the other, first she dedicates her whole life to NASA, but after running away she finds herself comfortable in a simple life with an Earth Advocate, the people protesting against what she worked so hard to make possible. This is also shown in Cassie's character, nearer the end she also works out what she has sacrificed for what she has achieved, and questions whether that is actually her dream. 

I also want to talk of the big question we are left with at the end, Did Cassie go to Mars or not? In my mind I think she did, she had already come to terms with the fact that she had made many sacrifices to get to her position. I don't think this added difficulty would have made enough of an impact for her to stay. I also don't think she is the kind of person that would give up so easily on the hard work that so many people had put into the mission, she wouldn't want to let them down. 

I loved this play, it felt realistic and relatable. I really felt for the characters, and I think it is very fitting for the times we are currently living in. I came out of the theatre buzzing, there was so much to unfurl and unravel even after it was over. Although this was more than enough for me, I do wonder whether the ending just didn't have what some people were hoping. We had explored these characters, sucked everything out of their lives and they had gone through so much realisation about their own lives, and yet they weren't in much of a different position at the end to the one they had started in. Stella was still living in the woods with Bryan, and Cassie was still working for NASA and still going on her big mission. Yet, their relationship has changed, although they will be living miles and miles apart, it does feel like they are closer than they have been in a long time.

I really enjoyed the play. I will be seeing it again with a friend and I am looking forward to talking to them about their views on it. 




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