CARIAD. To 16 February.

Mold.

CARIAD
by Sophie Stanton.

Clwyd Theatr Cymru (Emlyn Williams Theatre) To 16 February 2008.
Mon-Sat 7.45pm Mat Sat 2.45pm
Audio-described 16 Feb 2.45pm.
Post-show discussion 14 Feb.
Runs 2hr 10min One interval.

TICKETS: 0845 330 3565.
www.clwydtheatrcymru.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 6 February.

Little is what it first seems as this play unfolds.
You may need to stick with Sophie Stanton’s play (picked up by Mold’s New Writing Director Philip Breen as nearly-new following its 2005 premiere at London’s Tristan Bates Theatre).

At first, as Rachel Lumberg’s Blodwen brings ex-schoolfriend Jayne back home after a night’s heavy drinking, it seems we’re in for two hours of desperately contrived comedy involving women on the verge of forty. Cross-purposes extend to breaking point, while drunken Blodwen’s talking to thin air while the person she’s brought home rattles outside the door also stretches credulity.

It begins to seem a gross-out comedy, dysfunctionalism reigning in Blodwen’s mind and Jayne’s body, with all kinds of bodily evacuation playing, or threatening to play, its nauseous part. Of course, such stuff has its audience.

If that doesn’t include you, wait. When Blodwen’s 9-year old daughter Emily appears the play starts moving towards more complicated, deeper relationships, never-settling, always ready to shift. Emily might seem ripe to be taken into care given her mother’s treatment of her, but when Jayne, having befriended the girl, launches an attack on Blodwen, the daughter’s reaction is fast and fierce. And very pointed. Jayne has returned to Wales for her mother’s ashes, and Emily challenges her intervention with Blodwen in terms of the two mother/daughter relationships.

Each relationship is drawn in detail, as tempers and understandings shift. Breen’s production catches every nuance, as do a trio of perfect performances. For all the chaotic lifestyles, these are not people to judge or to pity. Each has their own voice and sense of self as various hostilities boil then subside.

Anglicised by her absence, Jayne seems able to reject the idealisation the other women foist on her. But they never lose their sense of self, and Jayne, who initially seems a virtual prisoner in this strange home, comes to recognise her time there as a helpful interlude within her own bereavement.

Martyn Bainbridge’s high-coloured set encapsulates Blodwen and Emily’s energetic messiness; yet under Gareth Hughes’ lighting the room can seem a comfortable refuge in the most intimate scene.

And Saucy the cat, too briefly seen, is delightful.

Jayne: Esther Ruth Elliott.
Emily: Bettrys Jones.
Blodwen: Rachel Lumberg.

Director: Philip Breen.
Designer: Martyn Bainbridge.
Lighting: Gareth Hughes.
Sound: Kevin Heyes.
Fight director: Daniel Llewelyn-Williams.

2008-02-07 10:22:46