Robert Tanitch reviews Here We Go at National Theatre/Lyttelton
Caryl Churchill’s short play is about death. Presented in three scenes, it lasts about forty minutes.
The first scene takes place at a wake where the guests reminisce about the deceased in a very fragmentary sort of way. They face up to their own mortality and announce at what age and how they will die.
The second scene is a monologue for an old man (Patrick Godfrey) who has just died and is not sure where he is. Is this Purgatory, which he does not believe in? What is going to happen to him? Is he going to be hanging about forever?
The third scene is acted in complete silence. Not a word is spoken. A geriatric (Patrick Godfrey) sits on his edge of his bed being dressed by his carer. Once dressed, with the help of a Zimmer frame he moves to an armchair next to the bed.
The carer then proceeds to undress him. Once undressed, he then, with the help of the Zimmer frame, returns to his bed. The carer starts to dress him.
The routine could go on…… One or two members of the audience laugh in self-defence. Most sit in silence. It’s not funny. Life goes on and on and then suddenly there is a blackout.
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