By the Way

One Scot, one Londoner, do France – whilst trying to negotiate the effects of maternal death. The two lovely lads, (one has to fight the urge to haul them off stage and take them home to your mum), are armed with nothing but a small square of stage and an old boarding-school trunk. On the screen behind them are projected soft and artsy images depicting views from the car window. The idea of travel is further enforced by the voice-over; half sat-nav, half therapist, pointing out road signs, city names, traffic hotspots and providing philosophically astute observations on death.

This combination of the metaphysical and the ordinary is what makes By the Way successful. There are lines that would usually make you wince but there is something in the boyish lyricism of this beguiling pair that dissolves the pretension of the script. The characterisation is strong, the pair meet and transform into several convincing and comedic characters, all of whom have also lost mothers.

The writing in this piece, though at times a little contrived, remains alluring. Allowing her characters to appear as semantic magicians, Noëlle Renaude’s lists of objects, colours and sensations are at once strange and powerful. The script is peppered with onomatopoeic mastery that makes you scribble down quotes and mouth sentences which satisfy the palette. The artistry of the writing does damage narrative coherence, rendering it a little difficult to gain a satisfying grasp of what the show is actually about. But the powerful charm of the boys and some astute directing will make you forgive this beautifully written piece.