‘An Oak Tree’
Lyceum Studio - 05/08/23
Written and performed by Tim Crouch, with a different second actor at every performance
Directed by Tim Crouch, Karl James and Andy Smith
Music by Peter Gill
Produced by Francesca Moody Productions
Tim Crouch’s rule-breaking play ‘An Oak Tree’ first opened in Edinburgh in 2005, and after numerous revivals around the world is now revived for a run of 19 performances at the Lyceum Studio. It features at its centre an actor who has neither seen nor read the play. The playwright guides the actor through the story. It’s about a man who loses his 12 year old daughter in a car accident; he is grieving, disorientated, nothing is what it seems. His life is like a play where he doesn’t know the words or the moves. The man who was driving the car is a stage hypnotist, who since the accident has lost the power of suggestion. He is merely working out old contracts. Now the Father volunteers for the Hypnotist’s act, not in a spirit of retribution but rather seeking meaning.
On Saturday night the Father was played by Nicole Cooper. He will be played by a different actor on every following night. The words Nicole speaks are all scripted, communicated to her through a head-set controlled by the Director/ Hypnotist. Everything else is her. Tim Crouch is the Hypnotist, no longer in full control of his act, faltering in his stage patter, stressed and nervous, but ultimately controlling. As the action progresses the relationship shifts. The Father, still grieving, gains strength, the Hypnotist teeters on the brink of breakdown. There is no resolution.
There is nothing new in the idea of a Director controlling an actor. We know all Nicole’s lines are scripted, but here the process is very explicit, with the Director’s instructions conveyed to Nicole through a silent headset and sections of the script on clipboard. Indeed the process here may be more controlling than a conventional play, even the adlibs, of which there seem to be many, are scripted. And the small acts of rebellion – Nicole’s roll of the eyes and sideways grin when asked, “Does this seem over contrived?”, the director’s bashful smile, even a hint of a blush, before the non-committal answer. Real rebellion or another layer of control? Without hearing the director’s head-set instructions we cannot know. What is on the surface an open collaborative approach in fact eliminates a whole layer of contractual agreement between director and actor – no preparation, no rehearsal, no consensus. This takes dramatic alienation to a whole new level.
It does also disarm the critic. Is the play I saw on Saturday night the same play others will see on Wednesday or Thursday, or any of the 18 performances yet to come? In theory much of it should be the same, but how much difference does the visiting actor make? Nicole was co-operative, despite being deeply distressed, gentle, thoughtful, and occasionally sceptical, but is that of any consequence to future audiences? Do actors act very differently in this part, or is there a cultural norm to which they mostly adhere? I can’t begin to judge that without seeing it several times? I would pay to see some others, notably Isabel McArthur, but whilst they publicise participants they do not publicise dates. In the end the only ‘expert’ is Tim Crouch, but then……….
Go see it for yourself.
