Catherine is turning twenty five and is slowly coming to terms with her father's death. She attempts to deal with her own personal demons and also with the arrival of Claire her overbearing older sister. Her father, Robert was a mathematical genius burdened with mental instability. He has left behind a collection of notebooks which have become the obsession of Hal, one of his former students. Hal is hoping his research will unearth some ground-breaking mathematical legacy from his mentor. As Catherine struggles to deal with the uninvited attentions of both Hal and Claire she must also come to terms with her own fear that she has inherited her father's mental illness. This productions action is rooted firmly in the dialogue. From the moment Holly Easterbrook spoke her first line I was captivated. She delivers an outstandingly tender performance as Catherine, emotionally brittle, rooted in her desire for normality and afraid of the future. She gives the character a childlike vulnerability that reaches out from the stage and carries the audience along. Similarly, Amy Burke playing the part of Catherine's overbearing sister from New York tinges the dialogue with dark humour and a raw edge. Her characterisation channels all the ambition of a small-town girl desperate to leave her past behind. There is a real sense of the complex emotional relationship between the two sisters reflected in their verbal volley-balling. Dan Cohen playing the emotionally juvenile Hal did not invest his character with quite the same believability as the girls. There were elements of a youthful Matthew Broderick about his performance that did not always sit with the other more fully realised characters. Despite this Hal is an enjoyable geekish maths-boy with rock-star ambitions. Marcus Taylor, however, as the flawed genius Robert, gave a rather overplayed performance and did not fully convince as the doting father descending into mental breakdown.It would be unfair to judge the production as a whole on the performance of the two male characters: there is a lot to enjoy here. Adrian Gee's effective staging, devoid of unnecessary decoration, focuses the audience attention on the action. The pared back, slick direction from David Hutchinson is impressive in its simplicity. Watching Catherine grow in both emotional and mental integrity is the highlight of the evening.This is an entertaining and emotionally satisfying ensemble piece. The intimate atmosphere of Greenwich Playhouse bringing actors and audience together for a thought-provoking exploration of the fine line between genius and madness.
