Gardening: For the Unfulfilled and Alienated

How far would you go for the perfect garden? What would you be prepared to do to cultivate the greenest lawn, the brightest flowers, the leafiest shrubs?

These are the unlikely questions posed by Brad Birch’s miniature curiosity, staged in a garden shed for an intimate audience of two. This small-scale monologue invites us into the private world of Owain, a man in retreat from the blandness of a life he has fallen out of love with. The small space of the shed is a place for him to be himself, an area reserved just for him, while the garden around it has taken on the character of an obsession in his mind ever since discovering the book of the title, an eccentric mix of gardening tips and self-help.

Discussing his beige sandwiches, his joyless job, and the feeling of gradual encroachment on all areas of his life, Owain’s experience speaks to a shared disillusionment with modern society – a creeping feeling that something is not right, that something needs to change. However, this dissatisfaction is never fully interrogated within the short span of the play; like the strange new bible by which Owain lives his life, it remains something of a mystery.

While Birch’s writing is tight and carefully wrought, what really drives this odd little piece is the brilliant central performance from Richard Corgan. His still, gentle presence speaks of a man who relishes the quiet of private spaces, yet there always remains a glimmer of danger just behind the eyes.