The Summer Palace ***

It looks like an ordinary office at first glance: two chairs and a desk. Yet the tape recorder and telephone suggest an earlier analogue era. The painting of a suited, moustachioed, man gazes inscrutably down on the proceedings.

Assumptions of normality are undermined by the appearance of Androv (Paul Bassett Davies), with a hood over his head. Removing it tentatively, he is obviously disoriented. When another man, Brodky (John Black), enters the room, Androv is immediately fearful and unsettled.

Andov’s anxiety is heightened by Brodky’s style of interrogation. Deliberate, controlled and evasive, Brodky effortlessly deflects Androv’s questions while maintaining command of the scene.

But Androv believes that he recognises Brodky from seventeen years ago. Androv is striving for a foothold in the conversation and perhaps some spark of humanity; he is pinning his hopes on a past shared moment.

Androv’s failure to demand rights or legal recourse indicates the situation to be a totalitarian regime. Brodky tells him that he has not been arrested and that he is a “client” – shades of ‘newspeak’ from 1984. Brodky is evidently some kind of secret policeman and is revelling in his game of cat and mouse. The office begins to resemble an interrogation room in Stasi-controlled East Germany.

It transpires that Androv is an actor and internationally acclaimed theatre director. Furthermore, he also was an acting colleague of Brodky from some years before. Androv apparently has been involved in some form of political protest and Brodky wants to uncover details.

Brodky continues to brush aside Androv’s attempts at familiarisation, but Androv grows in confidence and becomes emboldened. The meeting takes a turn, however, as Brodky strikes him, restoring the power status. Realising that he has overstepped, Androv retreats.

Another shift ensues when Brodky asks Androv for acting notes. The plays between the pair continue in an engaging contest until the denouement, with multiple shifts, twists and status changes.

Adept and skilled performers, Davies and Black both display their range in The Summer Palace (written and directed by Davies). Davies has notable comic timing, while Black’s stillness and versatility lend Brodky an unnerving unpredictability.

The meaning of this production remains somewhat opaque. Aspects may be allegorical to the debate around current Palestinian protests in the UK. It may be a commentary on the visible political shift to the right being witnessed in many countries, partially emboldened by Trump. It may be a commentary on the arts world calling out authorities who overstep acceptable societal norms. There is perhaps a deep-rooted examination of dramaturgical theory and execution, exemplified by the protagonists’ deliberate energy mirroring scene, and indeed the autocratic nature of some directors - “theatre is no place for democracy” as Androv notes. The references to King Lear’s fool perhaps hint at the pursuit of truth.

Yet these potential interpretations proliferate to such an extent that the production never fully settles on a central idea. The various themes circle one another without quite coalescing, leaving the audience uncertain not only about what they are watching, but why. The Summer Palace is a very entertaining and pacy production, with accomplished performers and intelligent writing. Following this initial Brighton Fringe outing, it is most likely that a more developed iteration, with a firmer resonant message and tighter direction, will find its way to the stage.