Tag Archives: Belgrade Theatre

MY MOTHER’S FUNERAL: THE SHOW

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Edinburgh Festival Fringe

MY MOTHER’S FUNERAL: THE SHOW at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

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β€œThe prowess of Jones’ writing and Charlotte Bennett’s direction is unique and utterly refreshing”

My Mother’s Funeral: The Show is a crucial and stunning piece on trauma mining in the arts. Based on the experience of losing a loved one and discovering the expense of death unjust, Kelly Jones writes a masterpiece that challenges the notion that dying is the great leveller. A breath-taking meta-theatrical triumph: this performance follows 24-year-old Abigail as she desperately pitches and writes a play about her mother’s (very) recent death. When a stranger turns to you at the end of the show in tears letting you know they intend to immediately ring their mum, you know the performance has done its job.

Playwright Kelly Jones presents a stunningly honest voice on the issues of how the arts industry treats trauma and social commentary. Jones delivers a powerful and poetic script that skips between tearjerkingly direct experiences of navigating the death of a close family member and trying to respect a dead relative’s wishes. The complexity of her writing is brilliantly clever and pulls the audience in from the moment Nicole Sawyerr (playing Abigail) takes to the stage. Sawyerr gives her all to the performance, holding the audience tightly in the palm of her hand.

As a microphone takes centre stage, as does our grief-struck protagonist. Moments where Abigail takes the mic on her feelings work beautifully into the meta-theatrical premise of the show and the sound production flies in support of it. Touching on themes of gentrification, demonisation of the working class, and estranged family relationships, My Mother’s Funeral touches nerves with the utmost composure and tact. The throughline of commentary on the divide between working class communities and the arts industry is sharp and so very needed. As the show holds a mirror to its paying audience, gasps and tears and laughter are elicited from the audience.

The staging (Rhys Jarman) is dynamic and drives the creativity of the show. Similarly, the gorgeous lighting (Joshua Gadsby) and sound design (Asaf Zohar) are as electric as the knife-edged acting. Samuel Armfield (playing Abigail’s brother and a particularly distasteful theatre producer) and Debra Baker (playing Abigail’s mum, healthcare professionals and an ignorant actor) multi-role phenomenally. The two flawlessly switch between different accents and well-crafted physicality. The direction is tasteful, thoughtful and comedic from beginning to end. This show catches you howling with laughter one second and wiping tears away the next in well-earned moments of emotional tension. Armfield and Baker’s supporting roles combine to pressure the devastation and rage of Sawyerr’s acting as her voice echoes both forcefully and delicately into the space. In particular, the climax of the show is directed with terrific effect, highlighting the pathetic hypocrisy of marketing trauma in theatre at the expense of real people.

My Mother’s Funeral breaks down what it means to write from your own experience to receive financial gratification from others. The prowess of Jones’ writing and Charlotte Bennett’s direction is unique and utterly refreshing amongst an arts landscape that is so readily available to sacrifice its creatives for the sake of entertainment and shock value. The perspective this show provides and its innovative delivery and conception is deeply essential.


MY MOTHER’S FUNERAL: THE SHOW at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – Roundabout @ Summerhall

Reviewed on 23rd August 2024

by Molly Knox

Photography by Nicola Young

 

 


MY MOTHER’S

MY MOTHER’S

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THE GLASS MENAGERIE

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Alexandra Palace Theatre

THE GLASS MENAGERIE at Alexandra Palace Theatre

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β€œhaunting and dynamic”

Against the backdrop of arrested decay in the Alexandra Palace theatre blares a rotating neon sign reading β€œPARADISE”. The shiny circular stage is decorated around the edges with the eponymous glass menagerie and later with added candles and flowers (Rosanna Vize). As the scenes progress the sign turns like a clock hand; the threat of lost time looming over the characters. Tennessee William’s memory play is set in the 1930s, in this production, the cast adopt modern costumes and props to illuminating effect as the family drama is grounded in a more recent era. The scenes are underscored with eery instrumentals (Giles Thomas) and characters make use of two microphones on stands to emphasis the overwhelming nature of their conversations as the family suffocate each other with words. Echoing the turn of the sign, the company move around cyclically (movement Anthony Missen) winding on and off the stage as they orbit each other. With every entrance and exit comes the risk of breaking a glass animal, implying the precarious circumstances of the family.

The Wingfield family consist of a resentful writer and narrator Tom (Kasper Hilton-Hille), his histrionic mother Amanda (Geraldine Somerville) and anxiety-ridden sister Laura (Natalie Kimmerling). The play follows the family navigating financial strain, familial roles and desperation to secure stability in their lives. Amanda places her hope in the prospect of getting Laura married after she drops out of a business course due to her anxiety. Tom loses himself by writing poems and going to the movies and argues with his mother over money and craving independence. Jim O’Conner (Zacchaeus Kayode) joins the play more in Act Two as a colleague of Tom and former high school crush of Laura.

Somerville depicts Amanda with a multi-layered performance with humour and dignity, never adopting a shrill tone or overly manic demeanour. She is berating and materialistic, but cares deeply for Laura and Tom and attempts to pre-empt and solve problems. She is overbearing but also earnestly helps Laura pursue independence and happiness. She worries reasonably about Tom’s nightly escapes but ultimately has outbursts that alienate her children. Kimmerling presents Laura as a kind ostracised young woman, dogged by onsets of panic and insecurity. Her journey shows her sociable abilities and emotional intelligence, as well as her fragility and internal torment. Her performance is beautifully moving and the relationship between the siblings is touching. Watching her get so close to happiness but not quite achieve it is sad, but what makes the story tragic is her inability to emotionally recover from the setbacks in her life. Hilton-Hille captures Tom’s adolescent frustration and solemn reflection as he recounts his life. The growing conflict with his mother are balanced with his concern for Laura. In Act Two Kayode portrays the perfect man in Jim; empathic and charismatic, but also nostalgic and pathologising. He finds Laura intriguing and intelligent, but flawed. He offers her advice and ruminates on resilience; β€œeverybody’s got problems”. Director Atri Banerjee bring outs the fun and joy of their would-be romance with dancing and music, leaving the audience wanting Laura to believe in love and more.

The family dynamic is captured through movement as they weave around the glowing β€œPARADISE” focal point above accompanied by dramatic backlights and dimly lit candles (Lee Curran). The drama’s intensity is heightened by the large performance space, creating a sense of loneliness and magnitude, with characters entering and exiting into the upstage void. The direction is slick, focusing on the intention of the conversations rather than fixating on the setting. This production of Glass Menagerie is haunting and dynamic, with each turn of the fluorescent sign pushing the family to the brink.


THE GLASS MENAGERIE at Alexandra Palace Theatre

Reviewed on 23rd May 2024

by Jessica Potts

Photography by Marc Brenner

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

A CHRISTMAS CAROL: A GHOST STORY | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | November 2023
BUGSY MALONE | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | December 2022
TREASON THE MUSICAL | β˜…β˜…β˜… | November 2023

THE GLASS MENAGERIE

THE GLASS MENAGERIE

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