Adam's rib
Henry Adam’s second major Traverse production, THE PEOPLE NEXT DOOR, is a dark farce reflecting on Britain after 9/11. But is it also a wind-up? \.'.<;"ts: Steve Cramer
t's kind ol' strange to intery iew a mate. I should less tip
that l'\ e known and liked llenry .\dam sinee some time
helore his lirst major 'l‘rayerse produetion. .lmmrg I'll/)I'U/xt'lt Ileurls. 'liltls shared the .\ley er-\\'hitworth award l'or best new play with another 'l‘rayerse pieee. (it'egot‘y litii'kt"s (iulem'm llity'. Since then. :\dam has worked on the soap .\ie/it and Day. and his return to the theatre is eagerly awaited.
.-\dam has a kind ol‘ ellin yotith about him. looking ten years younger than his late 3(ls. and as I meet him at the horn door ol‘ the l.eith apartment that he shares with Kathy. his attraetiy e and redouhtahle partner. I notice his peaehes and eream (‘eltie eomple\ion is somewhat ruddied. 'lihey ‘\ e been sitting all day at the sidewalk eale aeross the road with lriends. Kath explains. and Henry has eaught the sun.
Alter a l‘ew solieitous words, I hegin the exehange ol
customary diseourtesies that breaks the iee hetween boys. and we settle down to a euppa in his lounge room. The gall. whieh l hayen't \ isited sinee they moy ed there a year or so ago. is neat and well kept. with what you might eall arty— l‘aets. the shining hrie-a—hrae ol‘ eosmopolitan liheralism \isihle here and there. I think the neatness is to do with Kath: l‘or there‘s something ol‘ the satyr about this ell‘. and I imagine that pre-ls'ath. his house would’y'e looked more like Nigelis . ..
'l‘hat‘s the central eharaeter ol‘ Adam's 'I‘lie I’eup/e Neil Hour. at wasterly twentysomething. hall-Pakistani and hall'- white. Who's content with his dt‘ttgs and his quiet. DHSS- supported lil‘e in a elarty hedsit. .-\ polieeman who reeognises him as the hall-brother ol‘ a terrorist disrupts all this with \‘iolenee. hlaekmail and intimidation. and there is a sueeession ol‘ potentially tragie l'areieal misunderstandings. l’aree is not what you e\peet ol .\dam alter the quietly elegiae Among ('n/n'o/ten Hearts. but this strong and \ery l‘unny te\t. to whieh the l‘ormidahle directorial talents of Ro\ana Silhert has been applied. seems to attest to his tthilllies.
"l‘here are strands to the P|a_\.' he sa_\s. '(lne's a laree and one's a state ol the nation play. This guy doesn't hay e the resources til. the tniddle elttsses. He doesn‘t get the kind of representation he needs. He‘s the bottom rung ol' the ladder. and in that situation. when a eop pieks on you. you stay pieked on until you die. 'l‘here's a lot ol lragmentation in this soeiety. I don‘t know tny neighbours in this hloek. I know them by sight. but ill try to speak to them. they don't really want to talk.’
With fraternal hostility. I remark that I wouldn't speak to him il‘ he lived on my stair. and there's a hit ol‘ t‘riendly male growling before we eontinue.
The tone of the play is distinetly tin-PC. ‘Yes. it‘s
54 THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE ' .
The world's going to pot in a state ot the nation tarce
politically ineorreel attd \Ieiously lunny. kind ol lose your temper liunny. like when you lose it and all your litistiatioiis eome pouring out.‘ he says. ‘l’art ol the appeal «it this play is
that it spends as mueh titiie rilyliing its audienee. w intlmz‘ us up l'or otir huried preiudiees. as saying something altotll modern
Britain. post-WI I. What .-\dam has to say on this is not \lllllk' m .lT'S
tune with the radieal spirit ol inueh ol the other
politieal work. ol' whieh l‘\ e written separately in
this issue. l'or .\dam seems to speak \‘.llll the
small e eonseryatism ol his \\iek origins. ‘l‘\e
got great hope lor Britain. We're a nation ol FUNNY, KIND OF LOSE-YOUR- TEMPER FUNNY'
lelt. We don't ha\ e them here, \\e\e got 'loinmy
Sheridan. a kind ol euddly eommunist. l don‘t
mind him. But I don't like uniyersity prolessois who let on hemhs in railway stations. 'l hat seaies me.'
.\s the sunny .\"imday alternoon passes into ening. I make my e\euses to let .\dam get on ‘.‘.llll his night I ielleet that perhaps laree is a \lllldl‘le medium loi this wee. l‘eaming.
muddlers who inst get through l‘m seared ol a l'ederal litirope when you see people like Herluseoni running the plaee. lhe piolylem elsewhere is one Uli ltleHnglt'al hate. I «littl'l llkt' these people who do things lor lllt‘t‘lt'lltdl reasons. and I'm talking ahout the right am." the
(‘eltie supporter. He does loy e a wind up. and this is as
elleeti\ e a pieee ol rihhing as l". e seen lor some time.
Traverse Theatre, 228 1404, 2—23 Aug, times vary, £14 (£8.50).