Review of Teaching a Dillo to Cross the Road – 3 Stars
Teaching A Dillo To Cross The Road
Brockley Jack Theatre
Reviewed – 24th August 2017
⭐️⭐️⭐️
“The alcoholism, violence, sex, humiliation and tragedy throughout the play are meaningful yet not for the faint hearted”
The intimacy of the Brockley Jack Theatre plays a huge role in drawing the audience into this performance. From the moment you enter the space, two of our characters are already at work – the character of alcoholic May is sprawled across the sofa and the character of Flo scurries around in the background seemingly making herself useful. The atmosphere already seems tense but this is nothing compared to what will later unfold.
The audience are presented with a living room/kitchen, a detailed and homely look has been created with the furniture and there is a sense of normality, which is later shattered once the characters are introduced.
May (Rebecca Calienda) and her husband Will (Daniel Christostomou) have a strained and somewhat violent relationship made worse by the fact that Will’s elderly and invalid father (Graham Rollason) lives with them and this seems to burden and disgust May. Flo (Anna Brochmann) is the hired help, a quiet and timid character who is currently coming to terms with the death of her own father, therefore carries around an urn of his ashes.
One of the heart breaking aspects of the play is the contrast between the characters. You feel as though Will and Flo are simply trying to do the right thing, make sure Will’s father is comfortable and keep the peace, whereas May comes in like a ton of bricks and wreaks havoc on the situation. You want to feel some sort of sympathy for her and her miserable life but it is incredibly difficult to do so. For example, it’s shocking to watch when May dares Will’s boss Chase (Sam Landon) to open the jar of Flo’s fathers ashes and taste them, whilst Flo is out of the room.
The alcoholism, violence, sex, humiliation and tragedy throughout the play are meaningful, yet not for the faint hearted.
