THREE TALL WOMEN. To 27 May.

Tour

THREE TALL WOMEN
by Edward Albee

Oxford Playhouse Tour to 27 May 2006
Runs 2hr 15min One interval
Review: Timothy Ramsden 3 May 2006

Finely-balanced performances in a sympathetic production.
All human life is here: at least, all one human’s life. A wealthy nonagenarian woman is surrounded by those paid to look after her affairs and her crumbling body, with its sad, incontinent parades to the toilet. Amid this arise recollections of marriage into an affluent lifestyle of horses and dancing.

Albee’s second act journeys into her interior, simultaneously showing three stages of consciousness; the hopeful 26 year old, the bitter woman of 52 and old-age’s forgetting and reflection. What first seemed the indulgence of a privileged woman’s memories becomes a vital quest for elusive happiness.

When the matter’s brought up by the optimistic 26-year old, Irina Brown’s production collapses the elegant bedroom wall of Niki Turner’s discreetly affluent set, leaving the trio investigating in a black void whether happiness is to come, lies in the past or must be found in the present. It’s a strikingly beautiful, perceptive image, leaving this group clustered round a bed (craftily lit from within) with its recumbent, oxygen-masked figure.

Throughout, Chris Davey’s lighting has seemed to shift subtly (so subtly it might be imagination) into greater warmth before quietly returning to a former state that now seems cold; or it intensifies momentarily, only to fade back. But what makes Brown’s sensitively-handled production are the three well-balanced performances.

Marjorie Yates, an unfussy, truthful actor, clarifies the old woman’s path through sadness and laughter. Sitting in the first act like a broken-armed queen, she later delves into the inner past with the comparative calm that comes from having survived life. Yet she forcefully recreates the awfulness of her husband’s slow decomposition through terminal illness.

Diane Fletcher’s quicker-moving 52-year old lives in present-day rage, being highly impressive in her major flight of furious disappointment. Taut-mannered, fingers playing nervously this is a mid-life retrospective that wheels round to asking about the future. And Anna-Louise Plowman matches these fine performers in her smiling, light-mannered youngster, full of initial certainty.

Will I be like that? How did I get from there to here? Such frequently asked questions about ourselves are presented with deeply-moving clarity in this fine production.

A: Marjorie Yates
B: Diane Fletcher
C: Anna-Louise Plowman
Boy: Sam Curtis

Director: Irina Brown
Designer: Niki Turner
Lighting: Chris Davey
Voice coach: Kate Godfrey

2006-05-04 10:03:34