REVIEW: Our Fathers @ Platform
Our Fathers is a witty and self-aware piece about religion and the relationship between fathers and sons created and performed by Rob Drummond and Nicholas Bone with Magnetic North.
Having recently read some of Rob Drummond's plays - "Quiz Show" and "Bullet Catch" - for the first time last week, I was instantly intrigued by him as a creator. From what I had read his work seemed so hugely involving both for the audience and in terms of the performance he would give himself, with the shows being an interesting hybrid of performance and reality and something entirely changeable at any point. Something instantly apparent was that I needed to see something of his in person - and luckily his show Our Fathers, which he and Nicholas Bone both created and star in, was in town this week.
Our Fathers follows characterised versions of Drummond and Bone, both sons of clergymen, as they try to produce a stage adaptation of the book Father and Son by Edmond Gosse. As they make their way through the book they intermittently muse on their own relationships with their fathers and the conflict in their lives about their religious beliefs - or lack of them. At various points Bone contemplates whether he should have discussed his opinions on religion with his father before he died, whilst Drummond questions whether he should have his son baptised for the sake of his father's happiness, even though he personally doesn't agree with it.
The two men make their way through this performance, occasionally "breaking away" from the story for little asides to each other, bickering and questioning each other and creating a growing tension throughout the play. These interruptions, although adding another layer to the performance, come with a strange register that doesn't quite suit it and just seem quite forced and very obviously scripted interruptions.
As two experienced performers with a team behind them I was curious as to whether this was something intentional as at point I felt they were almost mocking their own styles as performers, particularly Drummond's tendency to improvise and interact with the audience. Nonetheless, I just really wanted them to commit to either conviction or clear humour with these asides, as for me there was something that didn't quite settle about it.
Nonetheless, I left feeling really quite positive about the show. Drummond and Bone are both such likable and endearing performers and I think that the connections they have to the story gave it enough conviction.
