Small Hotel, the latest production in Ralph Fiennes’ season at the Theatre Royal Bath, is a bizarre drama that defies easy categorisation. Starring Fiennes as twins alongside Francesca Annis, the play blends tap dancing, hallucinations, and reality in a fever dream that leaves audiences puzzled.
Written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, the story follows Larry (Fiennes), a fading TV show host stranded in a liminal space with a luminous bar and a Liverpudlian waiter with an eye-patch (Rachel Tucker). His life flashes before him on Bob Crowley’s stage revolve, haunted by memories of an overbearing mother (Annis), a teenage lover (Rosalind Eleazar), and a twin brother (also played by Fiennes, mostly as an enlarged projection).
Directed by Holly Race Roughan, the production uses crackling static screens and bursts of tap dance to evoke black-and-white film. It nods to Hollywood classics and Dennis Potter’s The Singing Detective, but also includes random haiku and a Beckettian ending. The play is very funny, though not always intentionally, and well acted despite the ropey material.
Highlights include a satirical scene where Larry interviews Marianne on live TV, now a Hollywood star. However, it is a stretch to believe she is drawn back to Larry, who has the energy of a punctured tyre. This may be a middle-aged man’s fantasy in a warp of dreams and reality. Ultimately, Small Hotel is less a play than an experience of sheer, hypnotising madness.
