THEATRE REVIEW: The Unreturning ★★★

The Unreturning

Old Rep Theatre, Birmingham

30th October - 2nd November 2018

Expanding over three different years; 1918, 2013, and 2026, three soldiers are returning from the war, and The Unreturning delves into how the effects from the war can change a man who has fought in battle. Bringing the lives of George (1913), Frankie (2013), and brothers Nat and Finn (2026), Frantic Assembly produce a deeply thought-provoking piece of theatre with layers of sadness, anxiety and uncertainty to highlight the sufferings and long-term damage the war can have on a human, with extraordinary results.

I have been following Frantic Assembly's work for a while now, and something that always hits it mark with this company is the simplicity in stage settings and props, which mixes with the realism in character, to which in this instance I think is more apparent than any previous show of their calabra; Their main staple-point for The Unreturning comes in the form of a large cargo shipping container, to which when rotated transforms into the three warzone timeframes represents to us. Anna Jordan’s script is  atestiment to weaving these completely separate characters into a coherent piece of theatre through the text, which to begin with shares parallels in the trio’s opening monologues, which when mixed with Pete Malkin’s sound design and Zoe Spurr’s lighting, the transitions and atmosphere engulfs you as an audience to be swept up and follow attentively to the story which at points becomes inspiring and compelling.

Neil Bettles conjures up a directional front with unravels the four unique protagonists with careful need, especially with the slick threads that interweave within the cargo container, with sliding doors and rotation of the centrepiece keeping you fully engaged in having to keep up and understand the story points in each segment of our characters, which at points did become a bit overpowering and confusing to which timezone we were presented with at the time. If only there were more indications to represent the year in which was portrayed, along with the character, would the narrative become more clear.

Overall, The Unreturning lacks the huge ensemble movement pieces to which is found familiar with previous Assembly productions, but the gut-wrenching dialogue and smooth direction from Neil Bettles redeems this production to become a character based seastorm of emotions.