Here We Go, National Theatre ****

Here We Go has attracted many negative reviews mainly due to it's final scene which is approximately 20 minutes of a man being dressed and undressed. It's true that this scene is excruciatingly painful and torture to watch. But that is sort of the point. Here we go, is a 45 minute examination of death. The first scene looks at people commenting on a man's life at a funeral, with interjections on their own death which highlights everyone's mortality. The second scene shows a dead man contemplating on which afterlife he wants, with the exiting imagery conjured directly contrasting with the painful final scene which shows the mundanity and pain before death. Churchill doesn't explain death here or even tread new ground on the subject. Instead, she plays with form by fragmenting familiar situations so that they are faux-natural, creating an upsetting and moving art installation. Dominic Cooke's production is minimalist and as fragmented as the form which demonstrates our flaky and incomplete understanding of the subject. Patrick Godfrey gives a matter-of-fact performance as the Old Man, showing no sentimentality. The rest of the ensemble give partly comic, partly poignant performances as onlookers at the funeral and highlight the need for us to live in the moment and the temporary nature of life. This is a powerful piece of theatre that deserves a greater run in a building that needs more alternative theatrical experiences such as this.