The Yalta Game

I always seem to struggle with chairs. My six foot four frame has created a game out of grabbing the back seat of a coach or the emergency exit of a plane. Thos extra few inches are all that stand (or sit) between tolerable comfort and a world of hurt. When it comes to battery style seating it’s mere minutes before my brain realises that the seat is too close to the ground, the arm rest too high, the back too low and that only a great deal of fiddling and shuffling can help such contortion. It was therefore, with some relief that I sat down at the New Diorama Theatre knowing I would only be there for forty minutes.

Short plays usually have to compromise in areas but this was certainly not the case for “The Yalta Game” written by Brian Friel. Set in Russia the story follows the affair of Dmitry Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna who meet on vacation in Yalta. As their story unfolds so do their imaginations and soon the audience is chasing them down a rabbit hole of desire and fantasy where fiction and reality become entangled in what is, essentially, a classic love story.

The script and the structure are nothing short of complex and director Frances Loy does sterling work to keep the tempo alive. The hours of work are abundantly clear that leave a smooth exterior. What are left are perfectly timed jolts of adrenalin as the story twists and shakes its way through the real and the imagination. The small cast and almost non existent set does not humble the atmosphere as the basic tools for theatre are transformed into an armoury of entertainment. Some epic productions have volume because they’ve bought it in lavish sets and costumes. The Yalta Game has volume because it has earned it.

I must admit that, like everyone there, I instantly fell for Dmitry’s charm and was happy to ignore the fact he’s a cheating bastard to sidle up to his eccentric attitude and dark slightly cringing humour. Jake Harders breathes his role with a natural ease becoming more likeable as he transforms from love rat to love struck. And how could he not alongside Anna? When I first read the book (and when I say book I mean chapter) I assumed Anna was a pretentious, self indulged and unappreciative prig. However, Kirsty Manns’ translation is an innocent and adorable character that requires no effort to follow through her peaks and troughs of fantasy. Her quick connection with the audience is reminiscent of a good friend sharing just a little bit too much gossip and brings to life a script that is as tantalising and inviting as her own performance.

The speed of the play is encapsulated with clever lighting and design by William Reynolds and Fergus Waldron. They transform the flashes of reality to fiction in a way that leaves you, not lost, but certainly scattered as everyone in the theatre plays catch up to a plot like a rubix cube. I found myself desperately seeking in those split second changes for my own interpretation of a ‘happy ending’ with the subtle design heightening that involvement.

The play is tragically relatable and the confusion the characters go through is as raw as it is desperate. The pace increases as does the care for the characters and I hope I wasn’t the only person there happy to sacrifice the most basic of morals for some sort of happy ending…

And then it was over. The lights went down, the actors left and it was over. Left there in the sudden light I felt deprived yet relieved that I was no longer accountable to something that could only end badly. But it wasn’t long before the urge to know the outcome grew, a testament to the achievement of such a small production. And as I walked away stretching my legs, pondering the parallels of the performance, I knew I would have continued to put up with those wretched chairs if only to play the game a little longer.

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The Yalta Game is on until the 24th July ONLY!
For tickets and information visit www.newdiorama.com