You can feel playwright Alexander Zeldin’s struggling with his new play “inspired by” by Sophocles’ Antigone. Yes, The Other Place borrows an important plot element from that ancient Greek tragedy, namely a conflict revolving around the conflict over where to place someone’s remains. And just to keep us on our toes, it throws in another significant narrative device from Sophocles, one that won’t be revealed here. Ultimately, however, The Other Place feels like yet another dysfunctional family drama, albeit one blown up to semi-mystical proportions. None of it feels particularly convincing, but thanks to the superb performances and the playwright’s riveting staging you’re mesmerized for every one of its concise 80 minutes.
The production has been imported by the Shed from London’s National Theatre, complete with ostensible leads Tobias Menzies (The Crown, Game of Thrones) and Emma D’Arcy (House of the Dragon). Set over the course of a single day in the living-dining area of a modest suburban home, it concerns the family tumult that results when Chris (Menzies) decides to finally scatter the ashes of his brother who died a decade earlier. Chris is now living in his late brother’s house, along with his wife Erica (Lorna Brown), her teenage son Leni (Lee Braithwaite) and his niece Issy (Ruby Stokes) who’s constantly tending to the alerts on her phone.
While the family is preparing to scatter the ashes at a memorial bench, they’re surprised by the arrival of Annie (D’Arcy), Issy’s older sister who hasn’t been seen in years and who has a history of mental illness. She immediately makes clear her fervent objections to Chris’ plan, insisting that her father’s ashes should remain in the house where their family lived.
At first Chris attempts to be conciliatory, going so far as to divide the ashes up and give Annie a portion of them in a plastic bag for her to do with as she wishes.
“Chris, that’s weird,” an appalled Leni remarks, in one of many times the description is invoked during the course of the evening.
The ensuing conflict lays bare the deep tragic undercurrents and secrets that are plaguing the family. There’s also occasional comic relief in the form of Terry (Jerry Killick), Chris’s friend and contractor for the house renovations, who shows up for the ash-scattering wearing flip-flops. But this seemingly benign character, whose arch observations are directed at the family’s foibles, is eventually revealed to have a predatory nature.
The Other Place never satisfactorily manages its blend of tragic themes and modern-day naturalism, feeling overly contrived in its construction. It’s ironically most effective in its lower-key moments, with the various characters’ emotional struggles on moving display. While all the performers are excellent, it’s Menzies and D’Arcy who provide the fireworks, with the former compellingly conveying a volcanic emotionality hiding underneath a seemingly controlled, placid surface and D’Arcy deeply moving as the daughter fated to repeat her father’s tragic destiny.
It’s all performed on Rosanna Vize’s seemingly generic-looking set that, thanks to some canny lighting and production effects, takes on darker undertones. Yannis Phillipakis’ eerie music and Josh Anio Grigg’s disturbing lighting design adds greatly to the ominous atmosphere.
The Other Place opened February 11, 2026, at The Shed and runs through March 1. Tickets and information: theshed.org
