Speaking in Tongues begins with a seductive dance between two couples on stage; Jane is married to Pete, Sonja to Leon. Jane and Sonja unknowingly swap husbands and engage in a one-night stand. As each couple’s infidelities unfolds, the on-stage chemistry becomes overwhelmingly powerful, just enough to make a girl blush. Even though you want to look the other way, you can’t: as the story unfolds, so do their punch lines, which draw you back in and make you laugh.
But it seems that as soon as the adultery begins, it ends, with only one couple going through with it, and the other walking away. As each partner reveals their betrayal to their spouse, you get this overwhelming feeling that the pain on stage is real, as if it was a real couple going through a difficult time in their lives.
The second half of the play shows Jane reuniting with her husband. Her unnerving story about seeing her bloodied neighbour chucking a woman’s shoe makes her husband think his wife has gone off the deep end. But as the play progresses, it unravels, with a suspenseful ending that leaves you wanting more.
An interesting thing about the play is that the two couples echo their dialogue. I give credit to the people on stage for pulling this off, for the most part. There were a few minor mishaps, but, overall, their personas, not their errors, shone. I expected the play to continue for at least 10 more minutes, but the light signalled that it was over. Even though I anticipated more at the end, all the pieces of the puzzle connected and left me quite entertained.