Michael Rowan does time at a new play ‘Held’ set in a contemporary Prison somewhere in the UK.

Tristan Bates Theatre, Covent Garden.

 

The play presented in two acts, where a simple set recreates the physical and mental claustrophobia suffered by prison inmates.

This play refuses to pull any punches; drugs, male rape and self – harm all feature and with strong dialogue delivered at full volume, the pace of both pieces is often frenetic.

Over the course of the play the characters reveal that which has damaged them but perhaps the relentless misery robbed them of the opportunity to show a more nuanced side, which would have made me feel their fate more keenly.

In the first act the young naïve Jamie played by Jack Brett Anderson is given a crash course in the harsh realities of prison life by the older and more worldly wise Sleat (Anthony Taylor), who exposes the damage to both of them in an act of betrayal.

 

Act 2 provides the context to a scene that takes place off stage during act one and with the same actor playing a lead role in each; it was at first difficult to tell if this was a completely new character, or the original character transformed by his prison experience. All doubt soon disappeared due to the quality of the acting.

Three actors played the five roles, but special mention must go to Jack Brett Anderson for his clever portrayal of Flynn, in the aptly subtitled ‘Dog City.’ Flynn, the ‘abused puppy’, uses his good looks to gain what passes for affection at any cost in a destructive relationship with muscled, Cal (Darren Fulton Brown)

Ultimately the play is about betrayal and the fruitless search for loyalty cruelly denied by a system that can only brutalise those in its care.

Held: www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk

6th – 17th June

Tristan Bates Theatre
1A Tower St, Covent Garden
WC2H 9NP