Manor – National Theatre, London

A review of Manor, now on at the National Theatre in London. What a misfire – where to start?

Manor

It’s not a good sign when National Theatre bar staff are politely deflecting questions from audience members about how something ended up on stage. After watching Manor, I was wondering this myself. Of all the things I’ve seen recently at the National Theatre, this was by far the least enjoyable. And it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where the issue was, because there was a lot going on.

Manor is a new play by Moira Buffini. It’s directed by her sister, Fiona Buffini (is this a first clue? Did this relationship not allow enough space for unbiased editing or dramaturgy?). It takes place in a manor house (hence the title), where a storm is raging. To add to the family drama between Lady Diana Stuckley, her musician husband Pete and their daughter Isis, a rag-tag bunch of strangers arrive, seeking shelter. Tensions flare while the floodwaters threaten outside.

The premise was solid enough for me to book tickets when they went on sale. Perhaps I should have waited for the reviews. The play has not been received well, and I share a lot of the opinions of other reviews. First and foremost, I don’t think this play quite knows what it is. It starts out as a black comedy, seemingly backed up by Lez Brotherston‘s skewed, off-kilter set. The frequent jokes set the audience up to laugh. Only as the play gets more serious, they keep laughing. There are scenes and lines that you can’t help but laugh at, intended or not. I felt very sorry for the actors. Not that they always helped the situation – there’s a lot of acting (imagine a grand tone) going on. The overall effect is verging on panto/slapstick, and I have no idea if that was the intention.

Are There Any Highlights?

Ok, let me start with the one performance that I really enjoyed. Michele Austin as Ripley, a mother and nurse practitioner from Balham, is a stand-out. It probably helps that her character is the sane and practical one in the midst of all the chaos, but her performance is grounded and believable. I would have put the actress playing Ripley’s daughter Dora (Shaniqua Okwok) as a close second, but unfortunately for her, her character went off on a tangent in the second half.

And for me this was indicative of a wider issue. Before the interval, I was rather enjoying myself. It was just silly enough to be fun, and gave my theatre buddy and I plenty to talk about over ice cream. But after the interval things took a downward turn. This play tends to smack you around the head with issues (Climate Emergency, rise of the alt right, violence against women, racism), and this really accelerates in the second act. There are some scenes and some language used which must be really uncomfortable for some audience members. But it doesn’t feel like it’s achieving anything, so is just uncomfortable all round.

So no, highlights are few and far between. From the set which reminded me of a Tears for Fears video to the caricatured characters to the inconsistent tone, there were many things about both the play and production which just didn’t come together for me. I have to wonder how this wasn’t caught sooner in whatever sort of review process there is at the National – whatever the intention is, it’s not getting across to audiences. Fortunately there is plenty more on and coming up there, so perhaps check out some alternatives.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 1/5

Manor on until 1 January 2022