GETTING TO THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN: Evans, Bham Rep till 8 June

Birmingham

GETTING TO THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN: Lisa Evans
Birmingham Rep, The Door: Tkts 0121 236 4455
Runs: 2h 15m, one interval, till Saturday 8 June, eve perfs 7.45
Review: Rod Dungate, 20 May 2002

It's a heart-warming story but sadly Lisa Evans's structure for her play doesn't enable the story to grab us nor does the play ever feel it's going anywhere.Through the eyes of Danielle (age ranging for little to grown-up) we see three older women, one of them Danielle's mother, muddling through their lives with the unavoidable mess of deaths, marriages, affairs, laughter and squabbles. Eventually, and perhaps against the odds, the women come through, triumphantly making their way to their mountain to climb it. None of this is world shattering – but then most of our lives rarely are – however, Evans has created a framework for her play that works against the story engaging us.

While the story centres around the three women the play centres around the daughter, skewing the play and pulling it off balance. Huge swathes of the play are of Danielle directly addressing the audience and the drama in the story is relegated to second place: they become illustrations of the narrative and seem not to inform the life of Danielle.

It's a shame and a waste of the considerable acting talents of the company. Alex Kelly (Danielle) has a lovely naturalness that, combined with a super smile, could easily have grabbed us and drawn us in, had there been anything substantial enough to draw us in to. Lesley Nicol is calmly matter-of-fact as too-uptight Danielle's mother and Jenny Quayle entertains us in the same way she does the other characters as the wayward adopted sister, Phylly. The scene in which she speaks of her abused childhood and her present physical abuse by her husband is very moving.

The scenes in which Kelly and Andrew Langtree (who nicely underplays Danielle's peer Craig) play young children are embarrassing though. This stereotyped playing of children has nothing to do with what youngsters are really like and everything to do with the way some poor adults think they are – rather like a send up of Play School really. How patronising of young people can you get!? Evans and director Laurie Sansom should know better.

Danielle: Alex Kelly
Kath: Lesley Nicol
Phylly: Jenny Quayle
Mo: Mossie Smith
Craig: Andrew Langtree
Brian/ Derek: David Birrell
Dave/ Felix: Robert Pickavance

Director: Laurie Sansom
Design: Matthew Wright
Lighting: Chris Davey
Sound: Dean Whiskens

2002-05-22 09:31:50