September4 to October 5 Review by Janet Lawrence The play, 23.5 Hours by Carey Crim, shows at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park. Directed by the much experienced Katharine Farmer, it’s an intimate family drama that explores the far-reaching consequences of a conviction, delving into how it reverberates through a family and their community.

It all starts innocently enough.

Two attractive women rush over to a kitchen counter. Leigh (with her long blonde hair and expressive face) and best friend Jayne, (with her bush of dark hair) laugh and chat. Bruce limps on with a bad foot. He is Jayne’s partner. There are four wine glasses, a bottle of wine and cheese. They’re good friends and they’re having a happy time.

Leigh and husband, Tom, are just a normal couple: he a drama teacher and she an ER nurse, raising their teenage son Nicholas in a small suburban town in New Jersey. But Tom is about to be released from prison. A knock on the door and he’s home.

Tom, just released from prison, having words with wife Leigh.

placeholder image — Tom, just released from prison, having words with wife Leigh.

Suddenly the mood changes. No one knows what to do. Tom (David Sturzaker) had been jailed while, as a teacher, he had inappropriate sexual contact with a high school student. He doesn’t feel welcome now he's home. His presence is causing conflict. On the one hand this family try to make him feel welcome, on the other they’re embarrassed.

Their teenage son, Nicholas, has no such reservations. Good looking, feisty, he comes crashing down stairs from his room, to see his father. He is vociferously antagonistic and doesn’t want anything to do with him. Jim Matthews’s unrestrained, opinionated performance reminded us how traumatic it can be for a youngster, facing judgemental friends. Jayne and Bruce are on the one hand supportive, but express the other side of the argument - has released prisoner Tom changed for the better?

Lisa Dwan, playing Leigh, has the capacity to change attitudes, expressions and body movements in a second, particularly when she and Tom discuss and attempt to reconcile and be together as lovers. He is trying so hard. For a moment it seems positive, but the situation doesn’t last. Doubts persist - was he really a secret paedophile? did he really assault the young student while in the car?

As we follow Leigh’s journey through her husband’s rehabilitation, we witness her struggle to reconcile the person she thought she knew, with the reality of his conviction, and her lingering doubt.

There’s the element of forgiveness in the hope that they can continue their loving life. But it comes apart at the end, and we see boxes appearing on stage, affirming an amicable separation.

The play is full of questions, no sooner answered than contradicted. Just when we are finally convinced that Tom was innocent, the lights go down and the phone rings. Oh no …..

Sensational acting brought this play, to life, making the story so real we could forget they were acting. Lisa Dwan made it all real as she switched from anxiety to pleasure, anger to joy. David Sturzaker as the unassuming Tom, Allyson Ava-Brown as friend Jayne, Jonathan Nyati as her partner Bruce.

Their stage biographies show vast theatrical experience for each actor - film and stage. Congratulations to Katharine Farmer, who has directed yet another of her many successes, with more to come.

23.5 Hours continues until October 5 at the Park Theatre, Finsbury Park. Box Office: 020 7870 6876