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The press notes for ‘Trestle’ state that the play asks ‘how we choose to live in the age of soaring life expectancies’. It’s certainly true that both characters in this two-hander are somewhere around 60: that interstitial age that was once considered old, but now foreshadows decades of retired life. The fact that at no one moment do you catch the whiff of topicality is a testament to the play’s sophistication and sensitivity: playwright Stewart Pringle’s entry was picked from over 1000 for the 2017 Papatango New Writing Prize, and it’s easy to see why.
We meet Harry (Gary Lilburn) and Denise (Connie Walker) as they cross paths in a community hall in a small Yorkshire town. He’s a nimbyish type who chairs residents meetings about keeping verges mown and suchlike. She wears flowery leggings, and runs zumba classes to loud pop music. And that’s where the opposites-attract, unlikeliest-of-pairs clichés end. Written with nuanced dignity, the duo interact subtly and complexly – and without a single Socratic exchange about mortality or the purposelessness of retirement to be heard.
Pringle and director Cathal Cleary sidestep the usual issue of most single-location two-handers – forcing way too much into one period of time – by having them get to know each other across a series of rapid scenes punctuated by the flash of a blue light. The naturalistic set is well-observed, right down to the aggy laminated sign in Comic Sans on the wall. But above all else, this is powered by two captivating performances – Walker, in particular, delivers her character’s vulnerability well. A tender, lovely piece of theatre.