The Glow – Royal Court Theatre, London

A review of The Glow, a play of two halves by Alistair McDowall at the Royal Court Theatre. Moody and atmospheric, but not quite my cup of tea.

The Glow

For me, the premise of The Glow, a new play by Alistair McDowall at the Royal Court, sounded promising. A mysterious woman, chosen as an assistant to a spiritual medium. But what secrets are in her past, and what powers are now coming to the surface? Sounds great, right? I love a good spiritualist medium (see here and here). And enjoy a good theatrical horror story (see here). Alistair McDowall is also a playwright I was interested to see, as he’s had some very well-received work at the Royal Court and elsewhere.

However… The Glow did not quite live up to these high expectations. There were parts that I liked – the atmospheric, candle-lit opening scene, for instance. And a fair amount of the second half, to be fair. But I found the first half oppressive for all the wrong reasons, and this inhibited my enjoyment of the play overall.

As I said, it starts strong. Spiritualism medium (and Victorian independent woman) Mrs. Lyall finds a young woman at an asylum. She takes her home (not quite above board) and employs her as an assistant in her ceremonies. The young woman shows strange powers, however. The Lyall home is already an unhappy one, and the newcomer and her strange qualities exacerbate family tensions. The first half culminates in violence and an unexpected turn of events. The second half is much broader in its scope. The close Victorian atmosphere is replaced by frequent changes of scene – both time and place. New characters are introduced. Things are not quite as they seemed at the outset. Or not at all as they seemed. And we finish on a sweeping ‘life, the universe and everything’ moment.

It sounds quite busy and exciting, right? So what was it precisely that didn’t work for me? Well I spent the interval pondering this, so let’s take our own interval and I will meet you in the next section.

The Importance of Connection

So over drinks at the interval my theatre-going partner and I were discussing the play so far. There was something that wasn’t quite working, and it wasn’t just our seats in the slips (with a bad view because so much action happens all the way over at stage left). What we landed on in the end was that the energy stayed in one place for the entire first half. Everyone was angry. Nobody was remotely empathetic. I had no idea why Mrs. Lyall was so horrible to her son. I didn’t like any of the characters.

The second half was better for me. The actors turned in far more nuanced performances. The story became more interesting and less about angry Victorians. I thought it could have done without the final monologue, but each to their own. Reflecting on it, I wonder whether it was the directing (Vicky Featherstone) in the first half that didn’t gel for me, rather than the acting? Probably partly the play as well, which wasn’t quite what I had expected. But that relentless energy in the first half didn’t help me to settle into the world of The Glow.

In the end, the second half pulled it back enough that I had a reasonably enjoyable evening overall. I really liked Rakie Ayola’s performance post-interval. I also enjoyed the way that the second half subverted my expectations. From what I’ve seen of other reviews, this is a bit of a ‘marmite’ play, evoking strong reactions of one sort or another. For that reason, you may wish to go and make your own mind up!

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 2.5/5

The Glow on until 5 March 2022