Vincent in Brixton
Orange Tree
★★★★★
 

GEORGIA GREEN’s revival of Vincent in Brixton at the Orange Tree is as perfect a rendition of this play as you could hope to see.

First shown to widespread acclaim in 2002, playwright Nicholas Wright’s drama explores a period in the young life of Vincent Van Gogh, when he boarded in Brixton with a deeply intriguing landlady called Ursula, her enigmatic daughter, and another lodger with artistic aspirations.

The boarding is true; the detail imagined … but nothing could feel more authentic. And there is much original humour arising from the tricky English/Dutch interface between the characters, not least from the total inability of the English to pronounce the very Dutch name “Van Gogh.”

Apart from the culture clash, the play focuses on the gaucheness of youth (Vincent is only 20) and on the artistic awakening of a genius. More deeply, though, it poses a believably authentic scenario where Vincent falls spontaneously in love, negotiates the profound and incomprehensible duplicity of the ever-evasive English, witnesses at close quarters the over-hyping of a pedestrian artist, and connects at the deepest level of his creative soul with the world in which he finds himself.

He walks through London streets, peels potatoes in the kitchen, digs the garden and falls headlong for the lady of the house, all with the mind-blowing vision of the artist he is to be, but also with a tinge of grief and loss that movingly permeates the action.

Green’s production is meticulous. In the round and — as always at the Orange Tree — up close and intimate. Charlotte Henery’s set comprises an evocative working kitchen that brims with detail and fully immerses us in the action as food is cooked, kettles boiled and dishes washed.

And the casting is first-class.    

Jeroen Frank Kales makes his professional stage debut as Vincent, finding perfect chemistry with splendid veteran Niamh Cusack’s Ursula as if they had worked together for years. These are star performances, both actors mastering not only the outward manifestations of the characters but shining a light on each other’s souls. Rawaed Asde brings an easy charm to the lodger and aspiring artist Sam, while Ayesha Ostler and Amber Van Der Brugge bring us unexpectedly and delightfully strong women in their roles as Ursula’s daughter and Vincent’s sister respectively.

That the play is enhanced and contextualised by our own knowledge of Van Gogh’s destiny is undoubtedly true. And in some ways the conclusion seems tame without the full catharsis that would see Vincent join the ranks of lasting greatness after his death.

But this is a play of depth and originality, elevated here by an outstanding cast, and beautifully judged production values. Unequivocally a “portrait of the artist as a young man,” it brings true insight into Van Gogh’s journey, and also into the world the great artist must negotiate. Ironically, we know what the future holds for Vincent better than those on stage, but we still come away cherishing a new intimacy with him — and with Ursula — that will never leave us.  

Runs until April 18. Box Office: 020 8940 3633, orangetreetheatre.co.uk