Sea Wall
ITV
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While live theatre continues to be on hold due to the global pandemic, we are being treated to a wide variety of archived productions, streamed to our own homes. For one week we are able to enjoy Simon Stephens’ 30-minute monologue Sea Wall starring the charismatic Irish actor Andrew Scott. This premiered in 2008 at the Bush Theatre and is a highly emotional examination of fatherhood from birth through to tragic loss.
Photographer Alex is reflecting on various moments in his life that include his enduring love for his wife and young daughter, a collection of mundane moments and his father-in-law, an army veteran living in the South of France. These natural freewheeling memories culminate in a devasting accident leaving the grieving father fragile and rudderless.
Scott’s powerfully moving performance is outstanding with his inspired yet wistful storytelling. He flits from one recalled incident to another over the past decade with the level of intensity building with a growing atmosphere of foreboding, the narrative threading through such complex emotions.
Scott’s profound and highly compelling insight into this heartrending story is utterly mesmerising.