The Driver's Seat @ Lyceum Theatre

Review by Charlie Hanks | 09 Jul 2015

Is Lise a victim? This question haunts The Driver's Seat, with Laurie Sansom’s superb rendering of the balance between power and vulnerability which drives the fate of Muriel Spark’s protagonist.

The word 'victim' is scrawled across the evidence board early on – if some of the novel’s subtlety is lost on stage to crime drama clichés, the ensemble cast that hovers as a team of detectives throughout provides equally gripping ambiguity and foreshadowing.

These six actors dart in and out of other characters, beginning as Lise’s heartless colleagues, then constantly appearing from and vanishing into that group. As multi-roling it is effective, but as a means of creating a manipulative atmosphere it is thrilling, with the recurring actors lending each new character a familiar foreignness.

Out of this scheming bunch are a number of brilliant performances just shy of caricature, notably Sheila Reid’s chillingly whimsical and transient Mrs Fiedke. The narrative hinges on her meeting with Lise, a sequence of theatrical ingenuity as the absurd department store is built with makeshift props and witty performances. Here as elsewhere, light and sound cues more than cover the episodic nature of the novel adaptation and the bold use of projected live video enhances the senses of confusion and voyeurism.

All eyes are on Morven Christie as Lise throughout, and she is astounding: seductive and vulnerable, composed one moment and lost the next. She creates Lise’s various poorly-crafted identities effortlessly, with passion and terrific ennui in turns. Christie is definitely driving, but the roaring engine of the ensemble and Sansom’s classy bodywork provide her with a beautiful machine.


The Driver's Seat, Lyceum Theatre until 27 June, then Tramway Theatre 2-4 July.  

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