Sometimes it can take a little while to settle into a play. That’s certainly the case with Firefly Heartbeat at the Hope Theatre, a play of two halves despite being only one act long.
At the start it seems to be going around in circles. The
play opens in the filthy home of Australian sex worker Madeleine (Kellie Jane
Walters), the space littered with sexual and non-sexual detritus. She’s soon
joined by Stuart (James Sutherland), a middle-aged man who arrives for
conversation rather than sex – which should instantly set off alarm bells. The
dialogue feels a little clunky, like a bullet point list of questions, the
stories they tell seem blatantly symbolic and, initially at least, the actors lack
chemistry. Madeleine seems to succumb to Stuart’s questioning too quickly,
whilst neither character seems to say very much at all.
The characterisation, too, is clichéd. Madeleine flits
between girly and flirtatious to strong and overly defensive, a woman dependent
on a sordid line of work in her desperation for money yet independent and
distrusting. Stuart, meanwhile, is calm, quiet and nervous, his character
precariously balanced between vulnerable and simply odd.
It’s acutely obvious that you’re watching a play. The
situation feels constructed rather than believable as you simply wait for the
inevitable plot twist (no spoilers here), knowing that neither character is quite who they seem.
It’s with that twist that the play hits its stride and tensions escalate. This is
a power play between the two characters, power shifting rapidly with each
unpredictable moment. Suddenly, Stuart’s calmness becomes unnerving and eerie –
he begs Madeleine for forgiveness for the impact he had on her past, but is he
really worthy? As for Madeleine, her varying nature becomes unpredictable,
perhaps even psychotic. Perhaps she is lying, but to protect Stuart or herself?
Firefly Heartbeat,
then, is something of a slow-burner, even in its one act running time. The
narrative circles of the first half are necessary to make sense of the eventual
ambiguous climax that’s intriguing, powerful and harrowing, led by two actors
who leave absolutely everything on the stage.
4/5
Watch: Firefly
Heartbeat runs at the Hope Theatre until 23rd May.
