Infinite Life at the National Theatre

Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Baker is no stranger to the National Theatre. The American playwright has seen her works The Antipodes, John and The Flick all performed at the venue to great acclaim. Now she brings Infinite Life to the relatively intimate Dorfman space. It’s a co-production with the Atlantic Theater Company in New York, where it enjoyed an off-Broadway run before crossing the pond.

The staging is simple: peach walls encase the patio area of a wellness retreat, upon which are a row of loungers. Over the course of an hour and 45 minutes minus and interval, we meet the guests of this clinic. They each have various illnesses or ailments and have come in search of recuperation. As they fast on a diet of smoothies, they sit and read or colour in and make small talk with one another. Being a Baker play, it is of course not quite so straightforward. Beneath the banalities of their conversations, subtexts simmer to the surface. Much like Pinter before her, Baker is rather fond of the use of pause. It allows certain lines to fizzle into nothingness, often leaving both characters and audience members waiting for some sort of meaning to arise from them.

Mentions of school shootings are deposited like throw-away remarks. The more mundane conversational mutterings are afforded greater attention. This makes for a quiet, curious play. It gradually pulls us closer and closer into what becomes an uncomfortably tight embrace. Many will register echoes of Caryl Churchill’s Escaped Alone – also directed by James Macdonald – in which a group of women sit around chatting as the end of the world encroaches. There is a real sense of foreboding here, made more impactful because of the apparent emptiness that passes before us.

While the silences speak volumes, the use of lighting (designed by Isabella Byrd) often startles with the darkened stage bolting into brightness and then back again. There is no narrative structure here. We are informed whenever time has passed by the character Sofi but other than that we have little sense of just how long this group of women have been together. People come and go. Conversations drift off on tangents and anecdotes occasionally take unexpected turns. There is the sense that life in the outside world is on hold for these characters, who are each imprisoned within their bodies and minds with no real knowledge of how to break free.

A work such as this depends on the performances for it to truly thrive. The always-engaging Marylouise Burke is joined by a cohesive cast. Mia Katigbak, Kristine Nielsen, Brenda Pressley and Pete Simpson all command our interest as we witness their characters’ respective quirks and contemplations. Christina Kirk will undoubtedly leave quite the impression as the sex-obsessed, self-loathing Sofi – the protagonist of the piece.

Some will find the use of pause overly excessive and perhaps experience frustration at waiting for something to simply happen but to no avail. Others will embrace the play’s oddness, knowing there is in fact a great deal to extract from it even if nothing comes quickly or easily. A unique look into both the absurdity and fragility of human life.

Jonathan Marshall
Images: Marc Brenner

Infinite Life is at the National Theatre from 22^nd November until 13^th January 2024. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.