'Duet for One' at the Orange Tree Theatre

'Duet for One'

"It’s a first-rate production with every aspect coalescing beautifully, richly poignant and full of humanity."

Venue: Orange Tree Theatre. Get directions.

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Helen Murray

Although first performed in 1980 (at the Bush theatre), there’s a timeless quality to Tom Kempinski’s utterly absorbing two-handed play and it’s a work ideally suited to the intimate confines of the Orange Tree, a perfect partnership.

Stephanie, a gifted violinist (Tara Fitzgerald) who’s suffering from MS has regular appointments at the behest of her husband with Dr Feldmann, a psychiatrist, (Maureen Beattie) in the hope that she can stabilise a life that’s swiftly unravelling. The doctor has been recast as a woman and this only strengthens Richard Beecham’s superb production, evolving into what feels like a battle of wills between the two as the play chronicles their combustible relationship.

It could easily be a pretty static, harrowing piece with all the action centre solely in Feldmann’s office but the way Simon Kenny’s cleverly-designed stage slowly revolves reflects the fluctuating quality of the conversation and the sheer quality of Fitzgerald and Beattie’s performances keep one completely engaged throughout.

Fitzgerald is completely persuasive as an extravagantly gifted musician overwhelmed by her body’s rebellion and Beattie is equally convincing as the (often maddeningly) calm doctor whose one passionate outburst is all the more arresting for its rarity.

“Music is the purest expression of humanity that there is,” Stephanie declares early on, the scale of her loss signified by the introduction of a violinist playing at the start of each scene, a great idea as it emphasises the integral importance of just what’s been lost.

Sound director Oliver Vibrans talks of the music as “a third character in the play”, and, like all the best ideas, the simplicity of this angle only enhances and illuminates the unfolding drama.

Stephanie initially arrives in ebullient fashion, elegant and brightly dressed, ostensibly confident of her future plans now that playing is no longer viable as she has clearly sublimated darker feelings but slowly, as Feldmann urges her to confront her fears and find a new way forward, this changes.

She becomes argumentative and rude, her clothes mirroring her inner disintegration. Forced to confront Feldmann’s advice that “there’s no magic in this room, these walls...just work,” the stark reality of what she needs to do to survive brings all her inner demons into the open. 

Each scene has the same pattern of Stephanie arriving and starting a therapy session but, by the play’s final moments, the women stay on stage facing one another, Aideen Malone’s excellent lighting highlighting the way all hangs precariously in the balance. It’s a first-rate production with every aspect coalescing beautifully, richly poignant and full of humanity.