Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Kyle Rowe, Darren Kuppan.

Men get accused of not talking to one another, about their fears, about their lives, on a daily basis; however, sometimes the words don’t come easily, the possibility of rejection of their thoughts, even by women, can be enough for many men to skirt the issue completely, they just keep saying they are fine, and whilst the dialogue dice is loaded by those who say this is a symbol of toxic masculinity, it could also be a indication of absolute vulnerability.

To talk to anyone is a display of faith, to do so when there is something to really say, that is conviction, and as Daniel Kanaber aptly shows in his new play Under Three Moons, faith and conviction are often just by words for hope, that what you say will mean something years down the line.

The sense of the intimate is something we don’t share, unless it is one that comes with understanding, and across three different times in the lives of Michael and Paul, the chance to get to understand each other presents itself, across a final school trip where the pair are drawn together only because of the alphabet, and then in their early and late 20s, when friendship is maintained by the distance of anger and recriminations, and of the night when they both watched the world around them unfold.

For Paul and Michael, the divide between them, ethnically, socially and education wise is enough for them to avoid each other, Paul even offering Michael 158 Francs to leave him alone whilst they are in France, a payback for Michael and his friends having left their mark on Paul’s sleeping bag. Through the conversation that follows, their lives become more entwined, and despite a signal of resentment that still passes through them, it is the ability to actually talk at the end of each meeting that carries their friendship on.

Daniel Kanaber’s insight into how men shy away from the conversation and instead use the idea of worded conflict, even shrouded argument, to disguise the truth of what they want to say, is one of devotion, of opening up the truth that what binds us is the way to consideration and accepting.

An inspiring piece of theatre, a two-hander that touches the soul and mixes humour and anger with equal measure. Under Three Moons is a touch of class.

Ian D. Hall