On its surface, Ben Ockrent’s Relics seems much like another Nachtland: a family (or extended family) reunites on the occasion of a parent’s death, and among the relics left behind is a valuable painting with significant ethical concerns. In Nachtland, it is a painting by Hitler, only valuable within a niche collectors’ circle, but it is morally ambiguous to sell. Here, in Relics, it is a painting by Camille Pissarro. It was once owned by a Jewish family, sold through auction, stolen in 1945, and eventually suspiciously acquired by the four siblings’ grandfather, a war veteran. To sell or not to sell, that is the question.
The eldest sister, Olivia, is firmly opposed to the sale because she believes it is morally wrong to sell stolen property. She insists that they should find its rightful heir. Unlike most of her more comic roles, Sally Phillips convincingly portrays Olivia as a long-suffering and self-sacrificing eldest sister who cared for their now-deceased mother until the very end. Sam Swainsbury’s sweet and gentle Rob stands by her side, quietly swallowing heartbreaking facts about his wife and autistic son until the final revelations.
JJ Feild plays the seemingly selfish and indifferent Jonny, who wants to sell the painting for £8 million so his wife can move into a house with a swimming pool. He is joined by the youngest sibling, Michelle, played by Charly Clive as childish and self-centred, who dreams of quitting her job as a primary school teacher once the painting is sold.
Remaining as a proscenium stage packed with props, including an old piano and a record player (designed by Joanna Scotcher), Relics wisely uses its space for restless movement. Under Michael Longhurst’s direction, it is never a “stand and talk” play. Instead, in this four-hander, everybody is on the move with proper pacing. Each blocking position tellingly reveals who is aligned with whom and who is against whom at any moment, much like siblings growing up under their parents’ roof.
While I often find the use of slow motion pretentious in most cases nowadays, here it works remarkably well to amplify not only the siblings’ quarrels, fights, and incomprehensible behaviours in the eyes of an outsider, but also their merry old times and their unique familial bonds that never really faded.
At the end of the play, Jonny proposes a family trip to Germany to look for the painting’s possible heir. Olivia’s answer remains unheard. Although the ethical debate takes up almost half the play, Relics does not extend itself into a deep provocation on the nature of art, its weight, and the moral complications surrounding it. At its core, Relics is ultimately a nostalgic celebration of sibling connections: their intimacies, resentments, loyalties, and ever-lasting bonds.
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