The Brightening Air
29 April 2025
Old Vic
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
The Brightening Air, currently running at the Old Vic until 14 June, is a family drama set in 1980s Ireland. In a decaying farmhouse, siblings Stephen and Billie live into the days, struggling to make ends meet but somewhat content in their small life in a rural town. But when their uncle Pierre arrives with a devious plan, things get uncomfortable. Additionally, brother Dermot has left his wife Lydia for a younger woman, Lydia is desperate to win him back, and money troubles combined with alcoholism ramp up the atmosphere.
For the first act of the play, it feels very much like a mundane family drama filled with inane chit chat set to a fraught set of interpersonal relationships. With a very simple set of mismatched, ageing furniture, an old piano, a window with unkempt lace curtains, there’s not much visual draw to liven up the atmosphere. There are a few projections in the background occasionally, but other than that, it feels a bit trite and banal, occupied with family entanglements and power struggles.
The second act is where this one really ramps up, dialling up the weirdness to the max and bringing some very bizarre plot twists that are highly entertaining. The humour as well as the storytelling intensify for an experience that is rich in oddities, nostalgia, and the funny little eccentricities of human behaviour, especially in the comfort and familiarity of family.
If you can get through the first act’s mundanity, the second act really pays off in its peculiarity and quick witted entertainment. Overall a great drama with emotionally devastating and highly amusing moments in equal measure.
