Theatre - The Caretaker

Lewes Repertory Theatre’s production of The Caretaker relocates to a third venue, The Old Forge, this week after successful runs in the All Saints Centre in October last year and the old Market Lane Garage in March. I ask one of the actors, Nathan Parkin, whether the production has changed in transition. “All of the performances have been affected by the different spaces”, he tells me. “We always find elements to incorporate into the shows. For instance, in the All Saints we were able to use an organ which they had, and at the Garage there was a huge metal ladder which we included in the staging. The Old Forge works really well as a setting because it is a derelict building which is actually very appropriate”.
The play is set in the junk-filled flat of two brothers, Aston and Mick. Nathan plays Aston and I ask him to tell me about his character. “Aston is a bit of a visionary but he has been in a mental asylum where he was given ECT treatment. The implication, as the play goes on, is that he was not really nuts in the first place. He just had too many ideas and talked about them too much.” Although the play was written in the 1950s it has a lot of relevance to the present day, Nathan tells me. “The major themes are all about alienation from society and dysfunctionality”, he says. But it’s not all tragedy, I’m assured. “It is a dark play but we’ve also tried to bring out the comic moments”. ER