Christopher Sainton-Clark, the sole actor in
An impassioned performance full of physicality and energy
His performance at New Wimbledon Theatre Studio fulfilled that ambition admirably. He’s an inventive storyteller who is creating an ‘anthology of bedtime stories for grown ups’, called The Book at the End of the Shelf. They range from 13-21 minutes, so theoretically are ideal for a short pe-slumber listen. However, they come with a warning that they ‘are sure to keep you up at night!’ He adds that ‘some are dark, some are funny, some are downright gory’ and that you should make sure any children you have are not within earshot. Their originality is combined subtle verse form that heightens their flow and gives them an air of being taken from history.
A Year and a Day is one of those stories and has Gothic overtones. This extended version of around one hour is the chance to hear the strange events that befell a lad called Nathan and see Sainton-Clark give an impassioned performance full of physicality and energy. The weird narrative tells of the boy born in Ireland in 1933, now aged 25 in 1958, or so you would think, and spans 65 years. His mother was a weaver; his father unemployed, but both are now dead. His girlfriend, Elsie, lives in the village, along with all the lads who are a bad influence on Nathan. What starts out as petty criminality escalates to a botched heist after which he has to be on his guard for gang members who are after him. That’s less difficult than it might seem, though his day of reckoning does come eventually.
One day, while on the heath with Elsie, a blinding light envelopes him and he disappears for a year and a day. When he returns he has no knowledge or recollection of his absence and so is shocked to discover how events have moved on without him. But then, when he falls asleep that night, it happens again, and that pattern recurs, making him a man of 90, who hasn’t aged, and gives him little time to right his wrongs.
Sainton-Clark creates many characters each with their own idiosyncrasies and voice, mostly from around Ireland, but also England, where the story ends up. Speaking to him after the show he tells of the time a man told him he needed to work on his English accent, which he took as a huge compliment for the quality of his Irish accent given that he’s from Norfolk.
With no set and just a bag, his presence fills the stage and the fascinating and captivating tale offers food for thought on how we often take our lives our time and our and our relationships for granted.
