Play review: The Herd

The Herd by Rory Kinnear, plays at The Bush till 26 October 2013

Beg, borrow or steal a ticket to see this play at this theatre. It will no doubt transfer, but you need to be in the almost domestic space of the beautifully renewed/upgraded Bush Theatre in Shepherds Bush, to get the full force of the ensemble acting, the powerful emotions expressed vividly, a lived experience at close quarters.

Superb actor as he is, did we expect Rory Kinnear to come out with such a piece as this, his debut play? The cast clearly respect this play, as they all came out for the weekly Q & A session, expressing their own immense affection for and admiration of the writing, and how the play has grown on and with them through the period of the run. It was very generous of them to come out for the talk, after such a gruelling performance (an hour and 45 minutes with no interval) but as Amanda Root (Carol) stated: "The writing is so good, the characters play themselves, you are led into the emotion, it all comes from the writing".

It starts as a story about everyday folk, the living space filled with comfy sofas, the modern kitchen well-equipped, a well-stocked drinks cupboard, a pale blue dresser against one wall; but their incredibly sad history is relentlessly and inevitably unfolded before our eyes through the space of this one important day. It's Andy's 21st birthday and his close family are brought together to celebrate, grandparents, sister. Presents are on the table. Little by little we realise Andy is disabled, actually a person with an adult body, but the brain of a nine month old child. Every day, every phone call could be announcing Andy's death as he was not expected to live to this age. How can anyone handle that?

The tragedy and complexity of the family (the Herd) and their relationships is revealed bit by bit as we are engaged in the endless questions, why have you come back, why did you go away, why did you disappear, how do you look after a child/man, what does it do to a mother, to a parent, what does it do to relationships? You discover how bitterly hurt people can nevertheless forgive, try to see the other person's point of view, at the same time as screaming at them. Few of us are martyrs or saints, and who can blame anyone who cannot endure to the end? If you bail out, are you a villain? And if you stay, do you become heartless towards everyone else, as you have to be so tough?

Kenneth Cranham, Anna Calder-Marshall, Louise Brealey, Adrian Rawlins, Adrian Bower and Amanda Root played so truthfully that it was hard to see them come out to take their much deserved bows at the end - one needed to be brought back to one's own reality slowly!

As one of the cast said afterwards: "it is a play with a lot of love in it"; that is something you appreciate when you reflect back on the play - as we and the actors have lived for an evening through a very intense, traumatic, thankfully vicarious, experience.

For more information see: www.bushtheatre.co.uk/production/herd/