Theatre / james fritz
Review: Ross and Rachel, Wardrobe Theatre
Ross and Rachel may have served as a romantic ideal for many a teenager during Friends’ late Nineties/early Noughties run, but James Fritz’s award-winning duologue Ross and Rachel tears into the concept that two individuals are ‘meant to be together’ with unflinching honesty that’s equal parts refreshing and heart-breaking.
In MOTOR’s compelling production, Molly Vevers plays both halves of this couple – who shall be referred to as ‘he’ and ‘she’ for ease – and they’re in the midst of a crisis. But this is not Ross and Rachel as we know them. The blueprint of their relationship may be similar, having had the same high romantic expectations pinned onto them by the world: but there is something far more sinister lurking underneath this sitcom surface.
When we meet the couple they are barely differentiated as characters, Vevers manically zipping back and forth between them as they hold court at a party, merrily relaying their meet-cute to an expectant audience. They are that couple, the one everyone speaks of in the same breath, the one whose constituent parts are no longer recognisable as individuals. The difference here is that she is beginning to question their relationship, wondering why people can’t just send them individual emails once in a while.
The show twists darkly when he and she are hit by devastating news and the duologue begins to mutate into very individual monologues. This is when we learn the truth behind the façade. ‘He’ is an idealist, tellingly prolific with his romantic pop-culture references (even Richard Curtis gets a look-in), who treads a thin line between adoration and delusion. She, on the other hand, feels trapped by their romantic narrative, questioning the validity and claustrophobic nature of the relationship. She often, bitterly, undercuts his idealistic view of her by pining over her crush on a work colleague, or fantasizing about what she would’ve been without him.
Throughout the performance Vevers, clad in a dressing gown, embodies the delusions and unhappiness of the pair. Although the candlelit set initially looks like a delightful spa treatment, it is eventually – and unexpectedly – mutated into something far more sinister.
Fritz is a beautiful and measured writer, his painfully honest duologue equally matched by Vevers’ staggering performance. Go and see this, and let them break your heart a little.
Ross and Rachel continues at the Wardrobe Theatre tonight, Saturday, July 2. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/ross-rachel
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