WITH echoes of the tragic illness and death from multiple sclerosis of the great cellist Jacqueline du Pre hovering like a ghostly spectre in the background, this highly emotionally charged two-hander explores the relationship between a 42-year-old internationally renowned violinist Stephanie Abrahams, newly diagnosed with MS, and her psychiatrist Dr Feldmann.

For two and a half hours, Stephanie spends more than 90 percent of the time in a motorised wheelchair, and there is virtually no action. Sarah Nias as Stephanie and Mark Payne as Dr Feldmann have to keep the audience interested in the verbal battle between a woman fighting inner demons in an effort not to give in to a disease for which she knows there is no cure, and in the end, that no matter how great a fight she puts up, will destroy her. It is already eating away at her personal and professional life, and a doctor who is equally determined to give her a purpose to continue life.

With so many words, the play is a recipe  for boredom, there were moments when I half expected Stephanie to burst into Eliza’s song from My Fair Lady ‘Words, words, words, I’m so sick of words, I get words all day through first from him now from you, is that all you blighters can do’. Inner lesser hands it would indeed have become very tiresome, but with Sarah and Mark, and the guiding hand of director Robert Graydon, using the pause to devastating effect, moving at just the right moment for the right reason, Sarah was a whiz with the electric wheelchair, the audience sat in utter silence, mesmerised by each verbal salvo. 

It was like watching an Agatha Christie thriller as each scene ended on a challenging or dramatic note. Sound designer Mike Stanley introduced ideally chosen violin music to cover the changes, and the audience sat on the edges of their seats awaiting the next twist in the battle for Stephanie’s soul. 

All this took place in a Sian Spencer set painted in ideal colours to fit the mood of the play dressed to perfection and lit expertly, as was the beautifully outside garden by Graham House.

Every actor dreams of being presented with such tour de force roles as Stephanie and Feldmann. To have the skill and concentration to take advantage of such an opportunity, creating two completely believable people about whose future the whole audience is concerned, requires acting of he highest order. In Sarah Nias and Mark Payne, the Swan theatre company has found two actors to fit the bill. 

GRP