The relationship between a teacher and a student is, by its very nature of differences in power and authority, a difficult one, which can lead to scenarios in the foggy moral area between professional responsibility and distance. Alex Wilson’s Replay explores this very area through the story of the piano teacher Freya (Mary Clapp) who develops an obsession with her student James after the suicide of his sister.
The soft sound of the piano conveys an uncomfortable mellowness and a somewhat subtly romantic atmosphere that heightens the uneasiness of the situation even further as a character study unfolds in front of the audience, drawin them deeper and deeper into the troubled psyche of the protagonist who seems to become increasingly tangled up in the sensitive situation and her own precarious emotions as the play progresses.
The strong, yet eerie chorus (Benedict Morrison, Soraya Liu and Poppy Clifford), with its clown-esque make up and elegant black tie attire that makes them appear almost scarily aloof, portraying the other characters as well, as it seems, Freya’s mind that is overflowing with voices and impressions, adds a compelling dimension to the play and acts as a backdrop for the protagonist’s inner turmoil.
With his protagonist Freya, Alex Wilson has produced an intriguing character whose ambivalent behaviour, especially due to her confiding in the audience as an invisible jury, makes her difficult to judge: Is she the victim of her own overbearing feelings and actually good intentions towards her pupil? Or is she merely using James and his vulnerability as an outlet for her search for a lost sense of excitement and vigour in her dull everyday life?
It is for the viewer to decide whose side they’re on, and the plot makes it painfully clear that making this decision is a lot harder than one might think. Replay is a gripping psychological drama and excellent new piece of writing that leaves the audience with a healthy sense of unease and questions in the back of their heads.
