It’s not hard to imagine the Hollywood remake of Nocturnal. Russell Crowe would play the creepy, friendless Short Man and someone vaguely exotic-looking would be his illegal immigrant neighbour and victim, Tall Man. It would be set in one of the less lovely parts of Los Angeles and would positively brim with urban paranoia and claustrophobia, with too many people who know nothing about each other living in too small a space and not getting any proper rest.
It isn’t mere fancy to conjure the immensely fruitful scenario provided by Spanish playwright Juan Mayorga up and away into another life. On the evidence of this brisk translation by David Johnston, Mayorga pushes his idea so far and then, frustratingly, no further, leaving us to wonder what might have been. The two wives, in particular, have roles that are in desperate need of fleshing out.
As soon as Short (the tall-ish Paul Hunter) reveals to Tall (the shortish Justin Salinger) that he knows he is in the country illegally, a desperate psychological pincer movement starts. Intriguingly it’s not denunciation he’s after but friendship and escape from a wife who is hooked to an eerie late-night television programme in which a quack doctor counsels insomniacs.
Much is stylish in Lyndsey Turner’s taut production, not least Matthew Walker’s terrific animations, which beam a range of authentically nondescript city backdrops into the tiny playing area. Hunter’s unwavering one-note tone of delivery is limiting, though, and Salinger could usefully dig deeper into the conflict of a decent man in an impossible situation. Somebody send Russell a script.
Until 16 May (020 7229 0706, www.gatetheatre.co.uk).
Nocturnal
Gate Theatre
Pembridge Road (above the Prince Albert Pub), Notting Hill, W11 3HQ
