Trestle by Stewart Pringle. The Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, 410 Brockley Road, London SE4 until 08 March 2025, 4☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

Photo Credit: Ross Kernahan.

Trestle by Stewart Pringle. The Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, 410 Brockley Road, London SE4 until 08 March 2025,

4☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

“Delightful table talk.”

In the Temperance Hall of a Yorkshire village two middle aged people meet once a week – he is the chair of the village improvement committee, she has arrived to hold Zumba classes and form a friendship. Trestle directed by Matthew Parker is charming, possibly a shade too long and with rather too many assemblings and dismantlings of the trestle table of the title but the performances of Timothy Harker as Harry, a very buttoned up widower, and Jilly Bond as Denise, married but not averse to dalliance although not necessarily with Harry, are beautifully judged. He turns out to have a Nimby concealed beneath his shell of diffidence, while she is less secure and outgoing than she seems. They get off to a bad start as Harry assumes she is a cleaner when she arrives – he has just finished chairing his committee – and asks her to pile up the chairs. She says she does not do chairs. But as the weeks pass their friendship develops, he actually joins her class, and we see it grow in a series of tiny scenes, all of which involve that wretched table being taken down and put back up until one gets a little tired of it. The use of sound – her Zumba music matters – is very skillful indeed and Andy Graham has worked wonders. Without the 15 minute interval Trestle would be about 95 minutes long, but an 80 minute running time straight through would be infinitely more effective. However, as it is, Testle is a gentle delight with performances to admire and a lovely tantalising ending.

Cast

Timothy Harker – Harry

Jilly Bond – Denise

Creatives

Director - Matthew Parker

Set Designer – Parker Graham Productions

Lighting Designer- Laurel Marks

Sound & AV Designer – Andy Graham

Costume Designer – Delga Martineau