| Great ensemble. Tremendous acting skills |
At Mercury Theatre |
| Mercury Theatre Wales- 35 Times , The Riverfront Newport , September 14, 2018 |
The company had converted the large studio theatre at The Riverfront in Newport into a sort of run- down church hall. Old bunting sags down from the ceiling and children’s paintings are stuck on one of the walls but the tea urn is bubbling, the ladies have hung balloons and cheered the place up ready for their ballroom dancing class. The audience sit at tables scattered around the hall. There is a larger table in the centre of the room also with members of the audience sat around it. We are all within the action. Each of the dancing class members share the space with us and at times sit, listening to their friends talking to us all. We are welcomed by Jules, who walks with a stick. Polly Kilpatrick gives her a no-nonsense motherliness and captivates us all so convincingly that some of us do wonder if she is the tea lady. She does hand us all very nice plates of biscuits. Dance music begins to play. A couple waltz between the tables but suddenly the man strikes the woman and drags her roughly out of the hall and we start to realise the other side of life that all our dancing ladies share. The young lady, Tara returns hurt and sits quietly at one of the tables. She says nothing. To all of us and particularly those at the table with her see a very troubled young lady and almost feel they want to reach out to her with sympathy, such is the strong reality of Elena Thomas’ performance. She clutches a note pad and throughout the evening she writes notes and leaves them on the scattered tables for us to read. Gemma bashes in and is already talking before she comes through the door. She greets members of the audience as well-known friends and continues to rattle off the day’s ‘delights’ she has spent with her children. Again many of us can sympathise with these experiences which actor Francesca Goodridge describes so convincingly. There’s a great rustling as Glenys comes into the room. Once again Olwen Rees totally captures this slightly dotty old lady as she delights in her old ball-gown ready for the dancing. Gemma’s reaction, “Fuck me, here comes Ginger Rogers.” gives us the picture. Claire comes in and doesn’t seem to know what’s going on but she responds enthusiastically to the prospect of dancing. When Clêr Stephens’ smartly dressed, seemingly self-possessed, dancing teacher, Val arrives unexpected tension arises. Again we get a very realistic personality. She and Gemma have a history and Gemma lets her know how she feels in no uncertain manner. One of the conventions of this Woman’s Aid get-together is that they retell the awful difficulties they have been through with their aggressive husbands. Gemma takes the microphone first. She bursts into song! Music begins to play, a spotlight turns on Claire and she sings her story to the tune of “Hopelessly Devoted” from Grease. The Women join in as backing singers. They bring a new dimension to the show. We get an ironic ‘Stand By Your Man’ from Jules. In a very moving sequence with a poem, almost whispering, Tara tells us of her terrifying experiences. The other women, chanting, lift Tara high and carry her to the central table where she is laid down. There are many other strong moments where they express their past experiences in mime or dance at times quite piercing. We hear Val’s story. Gemma realises she has got her all wrong. Val and Gemma dance together. Tara and Jules join them in the waltz. Soon they are all waltzing. Soon we are all dancing. The wonderful evening we have spent with this wonderfully talented ensemble ends with a biscuit and a nice cup of tea. 17 Sept. - Blackwood Miner's Institute 18 Sept. - Chepstow Drill Hall 25 & 26 Sept. - Red House Merthyr 27 & 28 Sept.. - Cardiff and Vale College 3 Oct. - Penarth Paget Rooms 5&6 Oct. - Swansea Grand - Arts Wing |
Reviewed by: Michael kelligan |
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