The last two Saturdays have brought me to Chichester for my first two productions of the new spring/summer season – so what better to pair together in this post? Two ostensibly different plays, tailored perfectly to their auditorium of choice, but I suppose the one thread that runs between them is that of grief; its manifestation and after-effects in Magic, and the build-up to it in Eclipse. As well as writing Magic, David Haig stars as Arthur Conan Doyle opposite Hadley Fraser as Harry Houdini – on the face of it the oddest of odd couples, but their shared fascination with spiritualism brings them together in 1920. Whilst Conan Doyle is fully signed up to the cause, Houdini is more sceptical and sets off on a hunt for tangible evidence, ultimately affecting their relationship forever. In Eclipse, we see the lead-up to the death of Sarah (Sarah Parish) & Jonathan’s (Rupert Penry-Jones) father, as his carers and nearest & dearest gather to say their final farewells. Amidst this…
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