Bracken Moor
The Grange Players
The Grange Theatre, Walsall
16th – 26th November 2016
This is an excellent production of a gripping and ghostly tale set in the 1930s, with surprises, personal transformations and twists on the way, and which draws parallels with current world affairs.
The programme describes this play as “a drama that speaks to us all set against the economic crisis of the 1930’s”. Set in a large austere Yorkshire house the play opens with mine owner Harold Pritchard (Adam Woodward) and collier John Bailey (Robert Onions) discussing the potential closure of a mine with the loss of 140 jobs. Harold and his wife Elizabeth (Julie Lomas) then play hosts to their old friends the Averys from London. They haven’t met for ten years following the death of Pritchard’s son in terrible circumstances at the age of 12, after which Mrs Pritchard in a state of shock and grief withdrew from life. All the memories resurface when Avery’s 22 year old son Terence (Rob Meehan), who was very close to Edgar, starts experiencing nightmares whilst sleeping in the dead son’s bedroom.
Although set in the 1930s this is a modern play, first performed in 2013. The Anglo-Greek playwright Alexis Kaye Campbell sets out an ambitious vision, and draws our attention to parallels between the events leading up to the Second World War and the current poor state of world affairs. Campbell strives to do this by creating tensions in the plot concerning the rise of fascism, failures of capitalism, the gap between the political left and right, between mysticism and materialism and along the way touches on oppression, emancipation, feminism, male roles and expectations, and even throws in a bit of Freud for good measure. There is a lot going on! Underneath then, this is a deeply political play that is concerned that humanity should not repeat historical failures and looks at how this might be achieved. Whether Campbell quite succeeds in his ambition is less certain. Certainly there is plenty of personal awakening and transformation going on here. Maybe, however, his ambition is too big and, without giving away any spoilers, the dramatic device the playwright uses to resolve the various tensions is unconvincing. Campbell may have achieved a bit more by saying a bit less.
Notwithstanding this, the Grange Players succeed in delivering an excellent production. The writer has created characters which under less experienced hands could have been clichéd and Director Rachel Waters ensured that the characters remained restrained and drew out excellent performances throughout. Julie Lomas particularly was superb as the grief stricken mother burdened by guilt and wishing only for death. She played the role with delicious understatement which hinted at underlying madness. Adam Woodward as her husband Harold managed the no-nonsense self-satisfied gruff northern persona well and overcame the challenge of playing an older character. Rob Meehan as Terence Avery takes on a very difficult role with great aplomb, throwing himself whole-heartedly into this complex character. He convinces us that this young, worldly, university drop-out has wisdom and idealism way beyond his years, and who can provide hope, albeit in a rather manipulative way. He was at his best and shone in an excellent scene with Mrs Pritchard. Samantha Allen played the role of Vanessa Avery with real conviction and moved between compassion and anger with brisk ease. There was less scope for expression for Les Wilkes as antique dealer Geoffrey Avery, with a character who seemed a little baffled by the proceedings, but he was a well-judged foil to some of the hysteria going on around him. Robert Onions as John Bailey was completely authentic as the left-wing and compassionate collier trying to save the jobs of his men. Dr Gibbons, played by David Weller, was needed to add credence to the underlying premise of the play, and a bought a respectful perspective on the supernatural which allowed the plot to develop. Leanne Brown as the maid added a suitably hysterical fear of God atmosphere to the proceedings.
The cast was supported by an excellent set by All Round Property Services which achieved the right 1930s austerity, as did the authentic costumes by Rosemary Manjunath. The sound and light design, by Stan Vigurs and Colin Meers, was spot-on and made an important contribution to building the atmosphere and tension.
Overall, there were few flaws in this excellent production of an interesting, challenging, haunting and thought provoking play.
The play runs until the 26th November.
Reviewed by Martin Walker
