Francesco Mariani

The unreturning
The unreturning by Anna Jordan is a play that tells three different stories which has in
common one thing: the homecoming from the war of three men.
The play has the aim of showing what are the consequences that war has on soldiers
and to explore the real significance of the home.
“There are times we all feel lost and our need to anchor ourselves to a place we can call
home is a driving force for most of us. The Unreturning focuses on many aspects of this
need”
The props were essential, there weren’t anything superfluos, it was all minimalist, from
the costumes to the stage, in which there was only a “container” that could spin and
was used as different objects: a house, a clinic, a pub, a boat… Lots of things were
placed in this container: sliding walls, flap doors, ladders, hand holds, hooks and doors,
and all of them were used in different ways. The idea of the container was born from
the fact that when you leave your house the most important thing that you bring with
you is the case, so the set should remind that.
I reckon that they had shown really well the traumas that war causes on men with the
scene of George at the doctor, at the end of act two. George is completely changed, he
can’t stay neither with her girlfriend, so he goes to a doctor who tries to help him to
feel better. The doctor doesn’t know what to do, and after a few checks, he decides to
test the reflexs of the patient, dropping a chair on the floor. As soon as the chair
crashes to the ground, George starts to scream, the clinic starts to spin and he
continues to exit and enter from different doors. The doctor and rose went away. The
lights started to flash. All these movements have been done in slow-motion, so it was
incredibly effective, and I think it clearly display how could the war do on the young
men such as George in this case.
Indeed the most important thing wasn’t the props or the speech, but the acting, which
was convincing and powerful. The core of all the play was the physicality. There were
jumps, races, scream disappareances and appareances. When the container spinned all
the actors were going in and out through the doors there were in it, making a really
good effect. All the transitions have been done perfectly, using again the physicality of
the movements, so using races or jumps.
“In the end she (Anna Jordan) created a play that by its very nature has to move,
jumping restlessly through each of the stories and allowing us to delve in to the heads
of our characters”
Then there were also the part about the future story, in which the writer gives his
interpretation of what happened in Aleppo, Siria, after the bombing, in which all the
houses of the people who lived there didn’t exist anymore at any moment.
So the writer tried to give his own image of what could happen in the UK in a state of
emergency where there are shortcomings of essential needing such as food, medicines,
houses, fuel… basically the description of a country where chaos is reigns solely.
The lighting was another key point of the play. For the story in the 2013 there was set a
normal lighting, while for the story in 1918 were used warm-orange/brown lights. For
the most part of it the play had only mood lights, but when there was an important
moment abruptly all the neons were lit, so it was quite scenic.
Then there was the scene about George and Rose which was honestly impresive as
well. To represent her character they didn’t use a real actor (unless at the beginning),
but they used only the clothes and a hat, to give the idea of her body. Then later she
was played by Joe, the actor who also played Frankie, all without leaving the stage.
There were then some recurring images, for example the sea and the consequences
and effects that past actions (or war) could have on our present, repercussions so
strong that continue to torment the character, also when war is concluded.
In conclusion I reckon that it was a good play, impressive and well-structured. The
message (or is that the importance of having a home and the results that war could
have on young) is well channelled and the show enjoyable to see, also wether a bit
complicate all the continue passagge between a story and another one. But overall a
good play which I strongly recommend.