TWO ROUNDS at Jermyn Street Theatre

★★★

“a tear-stained love letter to mothers and daughters”

Two Rounds explores the legacy of womanhood through two generations of four women in a tender and contemplative story. The first group we meet is a tea-party of housewives living in 1960s Italy. Translated from its original Italian debut and written by Cristina Comencini, the piece is a long conversation between four mothers. In the second act the actors play their respective daughters. Nothing happens to the characters beyond what they simply reveal dramatically to each other and events described off-stage. Beatrice, a vision in pink, (Daria Mazzocchio) is pregnant with her first child. Claudia (Natalie Cutler) in a green poodle skirt is uptight and traditionalist and consistently reminds Beatrice to expect even more pain in childbirth than whatever she imagines. Briskly dealing cards for the game is Gabriella (Flora Sowerby), in blue mid-length trousers. She criticises the nature of their housewife role with dry humour and knowing looks. Lastly, in matching purple headband and trousers is Sofia. She wins often at cards, but feels she has not won at life. Sofia (Saria Steyl) laments her life and delivers philosophical rants whilst chain smoking (around a pregnant woman…it’s definitely the 60s!) with pithy delivery.

Permeating the emotional moments is bright and dreamy lighting with vibrant pinks and an occasional flickering hanging lamp (Han Sayles). The set consists of a living room decorated with a somewhat kitsch collage of black and white photos of brides, mothers and families with the costumes doing heavy lifting in evoking the time period (Evelien Van Camp). Further punctuating the drama in the women’s conversation is a light piano score and Italian music (Hattie North). At the change to the next generation the home is draped in sheets and with cooler more sombre lighting and some Nokia ringtones to garnish its 90s setting.

“it is performed with quiet strength from the cast in both acts”

The relationship between mother and daughter is captured through the dual roles of the performers. Beatrice, pregnant with her daughter Giulia tells us she adored her mother who died. Directly mirroring these events in the 90s, Giulia (Mazzocchio) gathers her childhood friends after a funeral. Claudia, who idolised her mother, discusses the value she places in her role as a parent. In the second act, her daughter Cecilia (Cutler) is desperate to be pregnant. Gabriella, who feels lonely and side-lined proclaims she will teach her daughter Sara to play piano. Sara (Sowerby), a concert pianist, wishes her husband were more assertive in their marriage, disliking how he emasculates himself. Sofia feels dispassionate about her role in her daughter’s life. A doctor, Rossana (Steyl), who keeps an unlit cigarette in her mouth (it’s a metaphor) discusses balancing a career and family life. The women in the 90s generation discuss their problems with feminism and to some extent seem to dislike some of the freedoms they have that their mothers didn’t. The women of the elder generation casually admit to adultery, loneliness and resentment with their respective daughters supposedly in the room next door. Conversely, none of the daughters have become mothers in the second half and have made their own choices in their work and love lives.

Overall it is performed with quiet strength from the cast in both acts. Steyl’s performance enamours the audience to a regretful and bitter Sofia. Mazzocchio is endearing as Beatrice and Giulia, showing range. Directed by Aida Rocci, the scenes weave through the tea party and funeral but avoid over-the-top melodrama with expertly placed jokes by Cutler and Sowerby. However in lieu of conflict, expositional dialogue takes up the entire runtime. It is a tear-stained love letter to mothers and daughters.

TWO ROUNDS at Jermyn Street Theatre

Reviewed on 8th February 2024

by Jessica Potts

Photography by Giulia Delprato

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE BEAUTIFUL FUTURE IS COMING | ★★★★ | January 2024

OWNERS | ★★★½ | October 2023

INFAMOUS | ★★★★ | September 2023

SPIRAL | ★★ | August 2023

FARM HALL | ★★★★ | March 2023

LOVE ALL | ★★★★ | September 2022

CANCELLING SOCRATES | ★★★★ | June 2022

ORLANDO | ★★★★ | May 2022

FOOTFALLS AND ROCKABY | ★★★★★ | November 2021

THE TEMPEST | ★★★ | November 2021

TWO ROUNDS

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

★★

“A more undiluted approach would undoubtedly give a much sharper taste of the man and his muse”

“Muse” is a new play based on the life of surrealist photographer Dora Marr and her relationship with Pablo Picasso. Given just a sixty-minute slot as part of the Camden Fringe it cannot hope to be much more than a snapshot of this fascinating and turbulent liaison. Their relationship lasted nearly nine years, during which Picasso held onto his other mistresses; in particular Marie-Thérèse Walter, the mother of his daughter Maya. Picasso was a complicated and multi-layered character whose wives and lovers were absolutely integral to his career; they were very much the subjects that inspired him, and while history neither condones nor condemns his sometimes abusive conduct, it relishes exploring the relationship between the artist and his muse.

Antonia Georgieva’s play follows a long line of dramas that focuses on this theme. But rather than focus on its subjects the lens swoops chaotically, trying to catch a wider angle and cram in too many other personalities. Surrealist poet Paul Éluard and his wife Nusch make cameo appearances, Man Ray gets a mention; the writer Lise Deharne and art critic Françoise Gilot are caught off camera. The result is a blurred portrait that, instead of enticing us to unravel the confusion, is not particularly interesting to look at.

By her own admission, Georgieva, who also directs, has opted for an abstract, fragmented telling of the story. The cast, whilst appearing not to know fully what that story is, give committed performances. Sarah Kentish’s Marie-Thérèse Walter stands out with her mix of jealousy towards and superiority over Dora Marr, neatly combining the desire to fight with a weary resignation. But Jahmai Maasai lacks the presence and bullish charisma to portray Picasso. Whether he is trying to reveal the softer side of Pablo is unclear, but you never get a true sense of one of art’s most famous womanisers. He appears weak, especially in the famous episode where, having been confronted by Walter and Marr to choose between them, he tells them to fight it out for themselves.

The peripheral characters are somewhat superfluous, and hugely underwritten. Georgieva gives Claire-Monique Martin’s spirited Nusch Eluard too fleeting an appearance (Nusch is a character who deserves a play to herself) and the others are cruelly relegated to the side-lines.

Pablo Picasso had complicated relationships with many of the women in his life. He either revered them or abused them (famously quoted as saying that “there are only two kinds of women, goddesses or doormats”). He was married twice and had multiple mistresses, often simultaneously, and it can be argued that his sexuality fuelled his art. “Muse” is a generalised account of this fact that gives short shrift to his muses. Blink and you miss a couple of them. A more undiluted approach would undoubtedly give a much sharper taste of the man and his muse.

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Timna Lugstein

TWO ROUNDS at Jermyn Street Theatre

★★★

“a tear-stained love letter to mothers and daughters”

“it is performed with quiet strength from the cast in both acts”

TWO ROUNDS at Jermyn Street Theatre

Reviewed on 8th February 2024

by Jessica Potts

Photography by Giulia Delprato

Previously reviewed at this venue:

TWO ROUNDS

TWO ROUNDS

Camden People’s Theatre

Reviewed – 22nd August 2019

★★

“A more undiluted approach would undoubtedly give a much sharper taste of the man and his muse”

The peripheral characters are somewhat superfluous, and hugely underwritten. Georgieva gives Claire-Monique Martin’s spirited Nusch Eluard too fleeting an appearance (Nusch is a character who deserves a play to herself) and the others are cruelly relegated to the side-lines.

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Timna Lugstein

Muse

Camden People’s Theatre until 25th August as part of Camden Fringe 2019

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: