Tristan Bates (studio)
02 July 2019 (released)
04 July 2019
Watching Shadows is like watching a stream floating by, steady movement and occasional sparkles of light on the water and, as the stream keeps moving and after you’ve picked yourself up and gone, that slow movement turns into inward reflection and interesting ideas appear. It’s the hallmark of something that has more than what’s on the surface and this new play by Dan Sareen has that quality.
The setting is a bar in which a young man, James, and young woman, Nat, both work. We’re brought in at the beginning of their relationship and taken on a gentle back and forth as they get to know each other. Nat is a pianist who dreams of being on stage and James appears more down to earth and less ambitious. What we discover about each of them is that they are not quite as they imagine themselves to be. Both Madeline Hatt, as Natt, and Ross White as James give convincing and something sparkling performances. The simple set functions well as we go in and out of their daily routine and get glimpses of Nat’s home life (and fantasies, for she imagines herself to be in love with James). Perhaps a bit more thought could be given to the use of music in relation to the movement in the story, but the overall effect is a pleasurable evening’s viewing with an undercurrent of grist for the meditative mill.