Nocturnal at Notting Hill’s Gate

Some stories, for example Goldilocks, are easy to follow with a straightforward plot and simple characters. Others, like Juan Mayorga’s Nocturnal, a tale of what nightmarish situations we are willing to inflict and receive, are more difficult, with meandering story lines and characters that aren’t what they seem.

Nocturnal is about a pair of married neighbours, known only as the Tall Man, the Tall Woman, the Short Man and the Short Woman, who live in flats in the same apartment. They share only the odd greeting until the Short Man discovers that the Tall Man is an illegal immigrant and, like you do, begins blackmailing him for his friendship.

This could be the outline for a taut, character-driven thriller, however Nocturnal has the ambling, sinister quality of a dream where you know your companion is bad but can’t remember why.

The play unfolds by a series of two-handed scenes broken up by a television playing instalments from the show of a TV psychic who gives ridiculous advice, whilst wearing a fez, to insomniacs like the Short Woman. It is an atmospheric ruse that successfully conjures up the surreal hours when reason has gone to bed and people like this sham are allowed to rule the airwaves.

The Short Man as the blackmailer is not what you would expect. He is well mannered and idolises his good looking and educated ‘friend’. During enforced trips to the zoo and walks in the park he pours his heart out whilst the The Tall Man views this as ‘one more unpleasant game’ adapting to his new and unchosen role with a willingness that either doesn’t ring true or is disturbing in that it shows a man falling to his knees without a single act of defiance.

With these two fascinating characters, Mayorga could have built a loaded and vital conflict but The Tall Man and the Short Man stop short of any real development and the script veers into intellectual whimsy. ‘He practically comes when I quote Kafka’ says the Tall Man of the Short Man but with the Tall Man’s translator wife providing many opportunities for literary quotes, it is perhaps Mayorga who ejaculates over words.

Whilst it is a shame that such promising characters end up diluted, the play still carries four very strong performances, a genius set and an atmosphere that will entertain all who, like me, are drawn to the dark side.

Nocturnal is on at The Gate until Saturday 16 May.

The Gate
11 Pembridge Road
Notting Hill
W11 3HQ

Box Office: 020 7229 0706