With just a bed in the middle of the stage the relationship between Alex and Rupert is recreated from when they met on their commutes to work, through courtship in wine bars, moving in together and plans to make a family, which is where the heart of Cordelia O’Neill’s play, Anything Is Possible If You Think About It Hard Enough, is set, writes Michael Holland.
A coffee spilt in the rush-hour crush leads to a first date, made awkward and comedic by Rupert not being able to handle this forward, straight-talking woman. As they flirt we get their backstory: Rupert adopted, Alex brought up by hippy parents, but their opposites eventually attract.
Their love begins with a whoosh of energy courtesy of Alex who playfully mocks the words he uses to replace swearing (twerp, fiddlesticks); she brings joy into their relationship by not taking life too seriously while Rupert, who works in finance, is obsessed by numbers. She is the joker to his Mr Serious, and she is in charge inasmuch as she knows how to get Rupert to come round to her way of thinking.
O’Neill’s non-stop, quick-fire dialogue is deliciously snapped out by these two who don’t miss a beat. We watch on with delight as their feelings for each other grow; we laugh at her wonderful sense of humour and how she plays Rupert with a blend of love and a twinkle in her eye. The can of Pledge scene is wickedly hilarious.
Alex becomes pregnant and the baby kicking in her belly brings more joy but, but, but, there had to be a but. The baby boy, Edward, is stillborn and for Alex her world ends. In fact, she can’t understand why the world is still moving and life is going on. More to the point, she doesn’t understand why Rupert is against her talking to Edward and painting his nursery and buying him toys.
Rupert needs to keep some semblance of normality going in order to pay bills and get over this terrible, terrible time, but he is not helped with how Alex has responded to their personal tragedy. She hates the world and everyone in it.
Anything Is Possible If You Think About It Hard Enough is about how people deal differently with grief. For some, they do not deal with it at all but pretend nothing happened and nothing has changed. For Alex, it looked as though she was never going to get over her loss, although towards the end it looked like she might see some light at the end of her own dark tunnel.
However, not all of us there were convinced she had or that she ever will, and we left the theatre worrying about Alex and their relationship.
This is a great piece of work by Cordelia O’Neill, sympathetically directed by Kate Budgen and brilliantly performed by Gemma Lawrence and Huw Parmenter.
Southwark Playhouse, 77-85 Newington Causeway, SE1 6BD until 9 October. Times: 8pm, matinees 3.30pm. Admission: £22, £18, £14.
Box Office: 020 7407 0234 – www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk
Photos: Taz Martin
