THEATRE 
REVIEWS
This is How it Goes
Bristol Old Vic
ENGLAND
Elusive truths
"Ok. This is how it goes, I mean went. This is the way it all played out. What you need to know for now, I mean right at this moment, is that there was a girl." Thus opens the Donmar's production of Neil LaBute's play, produced by Moises Kaufman. At first it seems to be a light hearted romantic comedy set in small town America, with Ben Chaplin playing the unnamed 'Man' who returns to his home town and tries to win the object of his teenage affections. His would-be lover is Belinda, played by Megan Dodds, a white woman married to the only black man in their small town. Her husband, Cody (Idris Elba) is a former athletic star turned successful businessman. From a seemingly innocuous start, LaBute's play slowly pushes us to consider a whole host of difficult questions about race, love and truth.
As in a novel written in the first person, the Man is our narrator and our guide through the play's action. He directly addresses the audience and creates a relationship with the viewer, a level of trust. With a great amount of humour and charm, Chaplin gives us a narrator who is easy to believe.
This humour is helped along by the play's willingness to acknowledge and even emphasise that we are watching an artificial situation. Rather than hide the scene changes, the Man points out that he will be off stage in the next scene, in his dressing room, but that the action will continue without him. He also points out to the audience that we never see the often-mentioned children, and then without delay asks another character where they are, with a knowing wink to the audience. A great deal of humour is created with this unorthodox approach to narration, by playing up the artificiality of the situation and inviting us into his innermost thoughts.
Idris Elba, Ben Chaplin and Megan Dodds find the way
However, as with any first person narrative it soon becomes clear that we are seeing a subjective account of events. As the title suggests, we are getting the Man's story which is only one version of the truth. The Man even goes as far as to show us a scene between the other two characters, only to admit afterwards that it was just his interpretation of events, and that the other version is quite different. This difference in interpretation is created by his belief system, and by the fact that beneath his clean-cut exterior lies deep-rooted racism. The comedy throughout is counterbalanced by the gradual and very uncomfortable realisation that the Man, for all his liberal affectation and charm, is a thorough bigot.
Given that we are encouraged to trust the Man throughout, his racist outbursts come as a shock. The first sign that the Man may not be what he seems is when he recounts how Cody, the other male character, often accused others of racism, calling it his "Ace of Spades" routine. Gradually we become aware that the persona the Man has created is not what it seems.
However, even in this we cannot be sure. For if we accept that the narrator is unreliable, which of his stories do we believe? Is he a racist, as his stories indicate? Or are these stories themselves just fabrications? And what is the relationship between him and Cody? Is there really a dark deal between the two of them over Belinda? Even the Man himself points out, "I think I might end up being an unreliable narrator" so this is not a play which ties everything up neatly at the end. The whole production is a series of twists and turns, at times a light-hearted comedy and at others a dark and complex examination of race and gender prejudices. Those of a delicate disposition may find it disturbing but I personally thought it was an intriguing piece of theatre, and will definitely be looking out for other LaBute productions. © KA
“This Is How It Goes” is in Bristol on the 12th July until the 16th of July, 2005.
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