Half Life at Herald Theatre

Shirley Kelly puts on a great performance. Picture / Dean Purcell

Half Life is a play of lost memories, lost loves and, most of all, lost opportunities.

Clara and Patrick fell deeply in love during World War II after they met at a dance. Clara's husband was a prisoner of war and presumed dead. But his return and Patrick's recall to a top-secret role as a code-cracker tore the couple apart.

When we meet them they are in their twilight years and trying to recapture their great love affair. But their last chance at happiness is threatened by their children, who want to keep them apart, and by the dehumanising routines of the rest home where they live.

Half Life is billed as a "reverse Romeo and Juliet" which director Amanda Rees describes in her programme notes as "a richly complex play which explores highly intellectual ideas, whilst presenting them in a satisfying humane way".

I disagree. Half Life did not deliver intellectual complexity nor engaging humanity.

Playwright John Mighton also populates his play with an artist, a scientist, various nurses and a reverend, all with different points of view on what constitutes love and life itself.

The scientist and man of faith are set up a number of times to discuss 21st century concerns about artificial intelligence, the place of organised religion and the "usefulness" of older people.

These are topics that should be emotionally charged and interesting, but Mighton does not investigate them with any depth, and he seems unwilling for his characters to express too strong a point of view. So these big issues seem stuck on to the play rather than as a natural part of it.

Mighton has a meandering "slice of life" style of writing that shies away from dramatic moments, climax and resolution. And this safe writing seems to have infected the whole production, which lacks pace and drama.

It was great to see a cast that featured older actors in the leading roles - nothing kills credibility more quickly than a younger performer aged with unconvincing make-up.

I especially enjoyed Shirley Kelly and Graham Smith in the lead roles. They had many moments of real connection that made you believe they had found true love all over again.

But these touching moments were in contrast to the tepid performances from the rest of the cast who seemed disconnected from their characters and each other. Too often speeches were delivered to the audience rather than made real by being played off another actor.

John Parker's design mixed the functional and stylised with simple wooden rest home furniture that was dwarfed by giant blackboards scrawled with mathematical equations. Conceptually this worked within the play's concerns, but on the night there were too many unnecessary scene changes which slowed down the pace.

Given its themes and the central story of lost love, Half Life should have been a more interesting and emotionally engaging experience. Instead it was an unsatisfying night at the theatre that felt like too many lost opportunities.

Until March 4