THE MEMORY OF WATER To 6 November.
Keswick.
THE MEMORY OF WATER
by Shelagh Stephenson.
Theatre By The Lake Studio In rep to 6 November 2009.
Mon-Sat 8pm Mat 24 Sept, 15 Oct 2pm.
Under-26s Free 4, 25 Sept, 16 Oct, 6 Nov.
Runs 2hr 35min One interval.
TICKETS: 017687 74411.
www.theatrebythelake.com
Review: Timothy Ramsden 29 August.
Cold running water in lively, detailed revival.
Death can bring a family together. Remembering their father’s death is the start-point for Chekhov’s Three Sisters, while their mother’s funeral brings Northumbrian-born Shelagh Stephenson’s sisterly trio back to the north England childhood home in this 1996 play - written in the wake of a theory that water retains the power to cure after the beneficial minerals have been drained from it.
Vi’s influence on her daughters remains, though it’s hardly beneficial. And she crops-up, first as a remembered vision, then involving herself in arguments. Unfortunately Keswick studio’s restricted space doesn’t allow her, as usually, to pop out of the wardrobe where her glad-rags hang before they’re piled on the bed in charity shop and rubbish heaps.
Instead Aimée Thomas swirls on from the side, detracting from the significance of her continuing influence. And Vi seems the least integrated element in Stefan Escreet’s otherwise acute revival (Thomas remains competent, but her other performances this season show the impact she can make).
Deliberately or not, Chekhov’s sisters provide intriguing parallels. Like Olga, oldest sister Teresa here seems dependably sensible, till the pressures of the family reunion crack this surface.
Youngest Catherine has a modern urban version of Irina’s fading youthful optimism, the loud hedonistic lifestyle of someone whose self-obsession trembles on the brink of desperation: a party animal who can’t believe life’s no party.
As with Chekhov, the emotional centre is middle sister, Mary – virtually her Russian equivalent’s namesake - the deepest-thinking, deepest-feeling, stuck in a frustrating relationship with a married doctor, desiring the child he doesn’t want.
At Keswick it’s fascinating to see Polly Lister and Dennis Herdman play these alongside their disenchanted wife-swapping marriage in A Chorus of Disapproval. Their scenes, she pleading from the bed where she’s tried to get some sleep, he standing detached nearby, are especially gripping.
Teresa’s husband Frank (James Nickerson, patiently showing a patient man near the end of his patience) carries her lonely-hearts advert round like a burdensome talisman, while Catherine’s dumped by telephone. Maria Gough expresses Teresa’s practicality and Janine Hales is energetically detailed as the hyper Catherine in this rewarding revival.
Teresa: Maria Gough.
Catherine: Janine Hales.
Mike: Dennis Herdman.
Mary: Polly Lister.
Frank: James Nickerson.
Vi: Aimée Thomas.
Director: Stefan Escreet.
Designer: Oliver Townsend.
Lighting: Jo Dawson.
Sound: Iain Macrae.
Dialect coach: Charmian Hoare.
Fight director: Kate Waters.
2009-09-03 13:11:26