It’s the early 1990s in Suffolk, and the village parish is opposing Wendy’s plan to convert her barn into an AIDS hospice. Past and present briefly converge when Michael opens up to a stranger he finds in Wendy’s kitchen. Evasiveness meets defensiveness, while Michael grapples with the concept of illness. Jacob Sparrow’s debut is heartwarming and tragic; it’s a tender, soft play with an angry vein running beneath its melancholic surface.
His dialogue is lyrical, beautiful in its descriptions of stigma, isolation, alienation, and loneliness. As Michael’s floodgates open, the older man sits and listens, offering comforting words without judgement. Directed by Josh Seymour, Matthew Tennyson (Michael) and Richard Cant (the stranger) reflect on the privilege of growing old. Tennyson is waspish as he dives into Sparrow’s intense, fiery monologues.
He gives a powerful, passionate performance that’s frazzled with young feelings and naked fears. It tips into the theatrical at times, but it’s a negligible criticism. Cant is a poised, thoughtful, cautious counterpart. Seymour bottles this energy exchange and lets it explode in brief, contained bursts of emotion.
The direction toys with the distance between the two men, their bodies orbiting around each other, gravitating towards each other, close enough to touch, until Sparrow’s denouement. The action almost exists suspended in a limbo, a fever dream that never quite feels right for a rightful reason. The script is well-calibrated and the story is valuable. Sparrow is most certainly one to watch.
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