BETTY.

London

BETTY
by Karen McLachlan

Vaudeville Theatre
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Wed & Sat 3pm
Runs 1hr 15min No interval

TICKETS 0870 890 0511
Review Timothy Ramsden 13 July 2002

A strong performance in a fantasy to be taken on its own terms. To call something old-fashioned is an insult; naming it traditionally-crafted bestows a blessing, albeit often tinged with marketing-speak. Most 49 year old Elisabeths today are Liz to their friends, rather than Betty. There's something old-fashioned, or traditional, about the woman who's taking us through her surprising adventures in this liberating fantasy.

Sex has not come unmarried Betty's way, though religion's bred in her. So, when, sitting atop her suddenly proactive washing-machine during its vibrating rinse and dry cycle, she finds cleanliness helps her come next to an ecstasy she realises, in its dampening effect on her underwear, is not entirely next to the usual sense of godliness, she's off to confession, like the good Catholic lady she is.

It's the start of a journey of self-discovery, and a literal pilgrimage to Iona (more exotic shrines being out of her purse's reach) among a coachload of saintly sexual wannabes. They make up a secret world of desire and frustration encompassing a threatening note passed under a toilet door and mass voyeurism while the charismatic male party-leader enjoys sex in the grass - he's the last male authority-figure Betty turns to.

Telling all, Geraldine McNulty combines innocence on worldly matters and a frank delight in her new-found self, conjuring images of her more sexually experienced fellow-pilgrims, such as the grotesquely multi-face-lifted wife and the 'natural-born beauty' who'll always get her man, while already lining up his successor.

Alice Power's set offers a cramped kitchen expressive of Betty's limited life to date, opening up to a vast seascape as the decides to become a true pilgrim and swim to Iona – though the great bursting waves which suddenly appear show nature as a force that's overpowering in more than one way.

Director Kathy Burke intrudes a few unnecessary technical details – red lights and camera flashes which tell us nothing about Betty's voyage of self-discovery. The production works best when it just lets McNulty get on with the job of taking us into her (new-found) confidence, revealing this woman's strange and normal soul.

Betty Buchanan: Geraldine McNulty

Director: Kathy Burke
Designer: Alice Power
Lighting: Jon Linstrum
Sound: Andrew Pink
Music: Alastair Collingwood

2002-07-14 11:31:34