At National Theatre Wales |
| National Theatre Wales- Tonypandemonium , Park and Dare Theatre , October 19, 2013 |
Rachel Trezise’s first play is a deeply moving, dark emotional train wreck of a story but one also filled with humour and an ultimate message of love.The play follows the chaotic, distressing and at times shocking relationship between a woman, Deborah, who is obsessed with her physical attractiveness and a daughter, Danielle, who she treats at best as an inconvenience and at worst a rival as a (short) lifetime of reliance on men and vodka takes its toll. The award-winning Rhondda writer has based the play loosely on her own relationship with her alcoholic mother and this honesty adds an element of poignancy that makes the drama at times even more distressing than the actual words uttered by the uniformly outstanding cast. The play is structured as a series of scenes from the daughter’s life from idolising her beautiful mother even while being shoved out of the house so she can have “adult” time until reaching the age she can confront the increasingly drunken woman until eventually walking out. From the little girl who draws pictures of her mum and tries out her leopard print shoes to an adolescent who increasingly fights back, Danielle grows into a seemingly strong young woman, who now creates images on her own and other’s skin as a tattoo artist. The truth is she still yearns for her mother’s approval and if not that at least an expression of her love. The glorious Park and Dare is converted into more of an in-the-round space with the action taking place scattered around the studio so the characters are continuously moving around, weaving through the audience keeping us looking around to where the next of these episodes will start to unfurl. The passage of time is also achieved by three excellent actresses, Tamara Brabon, Molly Elson and Sarah Williams, playing Danielle at different ages but the trick is that they are able to speak to one another as their younger versions grapple with the situations created by their mother in the dysfunctional childhood. While the mother-daughter relationship is the heart of the play also beautifully realised is Danielle’s relationship with her absent father Jerry (Dean Rehman) and boyfriend Craig (Berwyn Pearce) along with Deborah’s interaction with her boyfriend Tommy. Adam Redmore gives a well-balanced portrayal of the Tommy, living on a diet of tall tales of 80s rock star encounters in London, cans of lager, chip shop food and Deborah’s appalling cooking. He brings many of the moments of humour to the play but is also drawn sympathetically, trying to keep the peace and caring for the increasingly vodka-soaked Deborah. Siwan Morris is magical as Deborah, capturing the downwards spiral from the young woman no man could resist, to self-obsessed mother still reliant on the attention of men for her self-worth to the embarrassing drunk who clings on to the days she was better looking than even Liz Taylor. Director by Mathilde Lopez has created a totally engaging theatrical experience that brings performances from the cast that are both so fraught and intense they twists your insides yet avoiding any melodrama that could reduce the poignancy of this tale. Does the play end on a note of redemption or reconciliation? Probably not. Perhaps we take from Tonypandemonium a less in a compromised, damaged acceptance and, as anyone who has lived through such an upbringing, a love and need of love that defies comprehension from the outside. |
Reviewed by: Mike Smith |
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