OH BABY! till 2 August

Hull

OH BABY!
by Ron Rose

Hull Truck Theatre To 2 August 2003
Mon-Sat 8pm Mat 2 August 2.30pm
Runs 1hr 55min One interval

TICKETS: 0142 323638
Review: Timothy Ramsden 24 July

Writer Ron Rose wears his heart on his sleeve. It suits him.
No doubting which side author Ron Rose is on in this tale of hospital midwives' daily lives. And, judging by the applause and cheering that greeted Sarah Parks' midwife demolishing the Trust Chair, his play's a tonic for sympathetic medical audiences.

Rose offers some slight argument. David Barrass as all purpose poser and villain (ie man) makes his doctor a figure of lecherous fun. But his support for modernisation eventually wins over new midwife Alice from the traditionalists (who offer a mere token mention of not always being against change).

Then there are problem patients. Rose vividly presents the dangers of assaults, HIV+ blood flowing and, tragically, the sight of a neatly swaddled, new-born heroin addict. The fuck you up, your mum and dad, in ways Hull's most celebrated poet never dreamed.

It's hard-hitting, at various times moving or hilarious though the action shambles along, working better as vignettes and sketches rather than a consistently developing play.

It certainly does in the head Trucker's production. John Godber knows how to make a point - and cast actors who deliver the goods in perfect shape. Though Barrass seems to be putting on the posh as a medic, he captures perfectly an unassertive husband and a menacing addict father.

But it's the womens' show and they're excellent. Jackie Lye's quietly resilient professional and pompous Trust Chair (Rose over-eggs this character, making her pregnant with a stillborn child, unable to keep a man and accidental killer of a previous husband). Amy Thompson's pregnant teenage addict who's waiting to get back to the mess she's in, and increasingly confident youngster on the ward.

And, superbly, Sarah Parks as the mother of many, always taking life with a shrug and a laugh, and at the play's heart the fighter for a hospital service run on medical not managerial priorities.

It's largely thanks to her the evening has its biggest laugh - at a difficult birth. Writhing and screaming, she's the centre of a scene that has the audience falling about. You have to raise a pint to a team that can bring that about.

Jan/Jane: Sarah Parks
Carol/Diane: Jackie Lye
Alice/Sarah: Amy Thompson
Taylor/Inky/Kevin: Martin Barrass

Director: John Godber
Designer: Richard Foxton

2003-07-30 09:08:05