Clive Owen and Saskia Reeves in End [Marc Brenner]

FOLLOWING the critically acclaimed plays Beginning and Middle, End completes David Eldridge’s trilogy exploring love and relationships. It also stands alone as a meditation on the final chapter of a long romantic partnership.

Set in a Harringay kitchen (meticulously evoked by Gary McCann) in June 2016, Alfie (Clive Owen) and Julie (Saskia Reeves) look back on their life together with affection, friendship and occasional flickers of frustration. They’ve both carved out successful careers: She is a writer, while he made his living as a club DJ.

From the outset, we learn that Alfie, walking with the aid of a stick, has terminal cancer. The couple are awaiting the arrival of their adult daughter, Annabel. Played out in real time over 95 minutes, they share their memories and cautious hopes for “a good end”.

Alfie is choosing the playlist for his funeral and where he wants to be buried. He rails against the cruelty of a life cut short before 60. Julie, however, wants some say in his final decisions and, more importantly, urges him to continue his treatment.

Eldridge’s writing is tender, sometimes profound, and he deftly weaves humour into the heartache.

Inevitably, given its subject, End can feel static, but there are moments of genuine emotional intensity with hints of an earlier infidelity still haunting the relationship. Rachel O’Riordan offers sensitive direction and it’s beautifully acted.

Owen captures Alfie’s weariness and regret without ever becoming mawkish. Reeves is pitch-perfect as a woman caught between respecting her partner’s wishes and imagining how she might turn their story into a book.

It’s a slow burn, but ultimately a satisfying one.

Until January 17
nationaltheatre.org.uk/