HighTide Festival, Aldeburgh, review: 'an inspiring programme'

Over the last nine years, the HighTide Festival has grown in stature and importance as a focal point for new writing in theatre. The plays they have championed have gone on to take the stage in London, New York and beyond. Those glad to offer their services for this year's many talking shops and interviews include Sir Richard Eyre, Meera Syal and Vanessa Redgrave.

This time, the Festival has shifted both season and venue, moving from spring to autumn and from Halesworth to Aldeburgh; but its spirit of exploration remains the same.

The subtle questions linking this fresh batch of scripts deal with the way we construct reality. Shakespeare's own seaside play, The Tempest, covers similar territory of course, so this all seems highly suitable for the Festival's new coastal setting.

Perhaps the most hotly anticipated of the many premieres is Brenda. Writer EV Crowe is a strong new female voice in British Theatre, who has recently impressed audiences at the Royal Court and the RSC.

Her play for HighTide is visionary and magical. Brenda does not believe she is human. She thinks she is a liquid. Her conviction in this is so strong, that it dissolves her relationship and eventually reality itself. The vivid and memorable final image of the play is the despairing boyfriend attempting to commit suicide by plunging his arms into live cables – only to find that they have melted.

In Caitlin McLeod's production, the early sequences – an experiment in constantly setting and breaking intention – are a little drawn out. There is a raw, slightly unfinished quality to the work, which does not seem out of place at a festival for brave new writing, but which may point to a script that has not yet reached its final form.

Performances by Alison O'Donnell and Jack Tarlton handle the complex material and long silences with great skill, keeping the audience engaged throughout. Daring manoeuvres such as leaving the stage empty for a considerable portion of time, are well judged by the pair.

More conventional, although equally accomplished, are So Here We Are by Luke Norris and Harrogate by Al Smith. Both deal with the way we build our idea of reality and what happens when it falls short of our dreams.

Once again HighTide delivers an inspiring programme, which certainly merits a trip to the seaside.

Until September 20, www.hightide.org.uk