WHEN WE ARE RICH. To 24 May.
Southampton
WHEN WE ARE RICH – A Play for Now
by Penny Gold
Nuffield Theatre To 24 May
Mon-Thu 7.30pm Fri-Sat 8pm Mat 17 May 4pm
Audio-described: 14 May,17 May 4pm
BSL Signed: 15 May
Runs: 2hr 15min One interval
TICKETS: 023 8067 1771
Review: Hazel Brown 6 May 2003
Interesting examination of modern values and relationshipsPenny Gold’s new play examines values and relationships that were forged in the last half of the 20th century – the idealism of the 60’s and the money-grabbing 80’s - and have their consequences in the present day.
Elizabeth, a latterday hippie, is about to be 50 and her children, Zeb and Saph, return to her flat in a London tower block to celebrate. Callum Dixon plays the apprentice jockey, Zeb, with quiet humility, but he is the one with true insight into his mother’s and sister’s states of mind. However, he is too naïve to foresee the betrayal of his mentor and father figure, the successful and worldly wise professional jockey, Pat.
Claire Goose is the hard and beautiful oil-trading daughter, Saph, who has rejected her mother’s socialist values for the pursuit of money and success. But this comes at a price. She manages to persuade her mother, who struggles to reconcile her feelings for her children with her socialist principle, to drink her exclusive liquor - but not to accept her gift of an expensive Chanel handbag.
Both children strive to get their mother to show some feeling for them, leading to a heartbreaking, hard-hitting confrontation between mother and daughter. During the excitement of Zeb’s big racing chance, we learn of Elizabeth’s betrayal at the hands of her former commune in an exciting operatic-style scene where this trio pour out their feelings.
Set against this western aspect of the play, is Ahmed, the son of a Bedouin horse breeder, who has forsaken the desert in order to set up a new life making money in a city. He laments the loss of his former life, and lapsing from the strict practice of his religion, but his sacrifice puts food on the table and provides a modern home for his family. His strivings are, in turn, rejected by his youngest son who has returned to Islamic fundamentalism and an ascetic lifestyle.
The cast are excellent, with a superb central performance from Paola Dionisotti, desperately seeking some form of spiritual consolation and meaning for her life. The set is a raked concrete frame, on which it must be difficult to balance, behind which evocative images are projected onto a huge screen. No answers are offered to the moral dilemmas and so one leaves the theatre with the feeling that all striving for betterment comes to nought. In fact, the title of the play might more appropriately be “When are we rich?”
Elizabeth: Paola Dionisotti
Zeb: Callum Dixon
Saph: Claire Goose
Ahmed: Hassani Shapi
Pat: Michael Glenn Murphy
Director: Patrick Sandford
Designer: Robin Don
Lighting: David W. Kidd
2003-05-09 00:45:27