SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN. To 13 September.
Hornchurch.
SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN
by John Godber.
Queen’s Theatre To 13 September 2008.
Tue-Sat 8pm Mat 4, 13 Sept 2.30pm.
Audio-described/Captioned 13 Sept 2.30pm
BSL Signed 10 Sept.
Runs 1hr 45min One interval.
TICKETS: 01708 443333.
www.queens-theatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 28 August.
A revival on the gentle side of Godber’s Jack.
Time’s moved on a generation since John Godber’s play first saw light in 1983, and so have the characters, Godber now admitting Jack and Liz portray his parents, rather than grandparents as originally claimed. And we can see them in the light of his later piece, Our House, where a teacher-turned-writer helps his widowed mother move from her long-time home. Its scenes recalling her married life show even the epic rows as a matter of pride between husband and wife.
September sees the rowing parents on holiday; in Blackpool, as always, and, as always, in rainy September. But that was the South Yorkshire miners’ holiday, fitting the St Ledger being run at Doncaster. All that’s different this year is the guest-house.
Their room’s an initiation test, near the toilet (no en suite back then), small and with its roof sloping over the wash-basin. You had to graduate through years of regular custom to the best rooms. Jack complains about this, and a lot beside, to Liz but rarely to others. And Liz becomes so fed-up with his sulks and rages she walks away. But you know the marriage isn’t over, something confirmed as he trails after her, dripping in his pakamac.
In 1983 the piece was fast-moving, just a couple of chairs creating places now illustrated on Christine Bradnum’s seafront shelter set, with cutout figures from saucy seaside postcards scattered around. It’s colourful and amusing, with neat additions like Blackpool Tower or the family car with headlights, wipers and steam rising from the engine.
But it moves Matt Devitt’s production towards the elegiac, making Claire Storey’s Liz, who speaks directly to us, more central than Jack. There’s a light touch of the young Dora Bryan to her performance, with a sympathetic tone to her memories.
Shaun Hennessy captures Jack’s vulnerability and self-certainty, but the sense of danger’s lacking; no lorry-driver would back-down at his anger after a collision in heavy traffic. Yet, if it’s amusing rather than hilarious, the production, illustrated by slides of Blackpool at its crowded height, gives due dignity and value to the play’s honest, decent characters.
Liz: Claire Storey.
Jack: Shaun Hennessy.
Director: Matt Devitt.
Designer: Christine Bradnum.
Lighting: Andy Lewis.
Costume: Aimee Easter.
Voice coach: Richard Ryder.
2008-08-31 22:19:17