Tag Archives: Danny Hetherington

Giving Up Marty

Giving Up Marty

★★★★

VAULT Festival 2020

Giving Up Marty

Giving Up Marty

Crescent – The Vaults

Reviewed – 10th March 2020

★★★★

 

“gives a voice to a group who are too often misunderstood and unheard”

 

Think of adoption and your mind may well turn to an emotion-tugging soap opera or a tear-jerking predictable TV reality show.

Writer Karen Bartholomew explores the harsher truths of the subject and its impact on everyone involved in her sharp new play “Giving Up Marty,” which suggests that seeking out long lost families does not always have a happy ending.

The focus is on adoption reunion, the moment when an adopted child meets their birth parents and siblings, but this isn’t a story about a disgruntled teenager wanting to find his “real” family. Instead this drama considers the effects on a stable and happy 18-year-old and his adopted family when his birth mum and sister go looking for him.

To say that Bartholomew, who has personal experience of the issue, writes carefully would be to undermine the uncompromising challenge and complexity at the heart of this rich story. She and director Annie Sutton want us to recognise that in so many cases there are no love and kisses, more likely pain and a sense of not belonging.

A likeable and compelling Danny Hetherington is Joel, the well-adjusted young man (originally named Marty) who has been curious about his background but who is secure in who he is and has never shown any great desire to probe his origins. He allows us to see the character crumbling with the thought that he might have been “a mistake” as he faces the heartlessness of bureaucracy and unresolved tension, somehow feeling he doesn’t quite fit.

The plastic chairs are the only items of furniture on the stage, making us think this is an “everyman” tale where too many characters are faceless, while props (most notably a selection of dated case files) hang from pegs on lines to the right and left. Perhaps there is a feeling that people are simply hung up and left out to dry by the pressured system.

While the intentions of Joel’s birth mother and sister seem cold and selfish we also understand the genuine sense of loss they feel for a son/brother they know about but have had no involvement with. Dorothy Lawrence as mum Martha and Natasha Atkinson as sister Melissa give assured performances that highlight the mental stress of family who feel they have the right to know the truth yet recognise the can of worms being opened the minute they begin the hunt for Marty.

Alexis Leighton gives a lovely performance as Kit, the adoring mum who has adopted several children and loves them as her own, while Ugo Nelson’s Femi is a case worker who wants to do the right things, warns of the potential hurdles, yet ultimately can do little more than add the real people to a list of statistics.

This Motormouse production tackles a seldom-addressed real-life issue and is an important way of educating audiences to a far from uncommon plight. But more significantly “Giving Up Marty” gives a voice to a group who are too often misunderstood and unheard and who deserve to be treated more seriously than politics, popular media and society has ever done.

 

Reviewed by David Guest

Photography by Lidia Crisafulli

 

VAULT Festival 2020

 

 

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Great Expectations

★★★★

The Geffrye Museum of the Home

Great Expectations

Great Expectations

The Geffrye Museum of the Home

Reviewed – 17th August 2019

★★★★

 

“the company succeeds in bringing off this show with great flair”

 

If you haven’t yet discovered the oasis of peace in busy Hoxton that is the Geffrye Museum, then, for the next few weekends in August, you have an additional reason to go. Free Theatre UK is performing a “steam punk” version of Charles Dickens’ beloved classic Great Expectations that audiences of all ages will enjoy. This is an outdoors production, so bring along a picnic, something to sit on, and don’t worry if it rains. The company is well prepared with tents for both performers and the audience. And did I mention it’s free?

Great Expectations is the kind of novel that gets introduced to school kids at too young an age, and it is often years before they wish to tackle Dickens again. This is a great pity not only because the story of Pip and the extraordinary characters who surround him is unforgettable, but as always, Dickens paints a vast canvas illuminating the lived realities of the Industrial Age. It is appropriate, therefore, that Free Theatre has chosen to perform this adaptation in the grounds of the Geffrye Museum, founded and built by a successful merchant as almshouses for the widows and orphans of ironmongers. Skillfully adapted by Phil Willmott, this production of Great Expectations is also highly accessible, so it’s a wonderful way to introduce your kids to Dickens before they have a chance to get discouraged.

Like Pip, Free Theatre UK also has “great expectations,” and the company succeeds in bringing off this show with great flair. Everything has been thought through with care, from the greeter at the gate who ushers you into the gardens of the Geffrye Museum, to the actor who courteously bids you farewell at the end of the show. The set is elaborate by outdoors performance standards, with a lot of imaginative touches. Both this, and the costumes, designed by Penn O’Gara, give this production its “steam punk” elements, and if there is one criticism to be made, it is that this idea could have been developed a bit further in the script. But the design elements use steam punk to memorable effect.

Free Theatre UK is, for the most part, a young company, although what some performers lack in experience, they make up for in talent. Under the capable direction of Phil Willmott, everyone has a chance to shine. Noteworthy performances include Cal Chapman as Pip, Darcey O’Rouke as Estella, and the terrific Matthew Wade, who takes on contrasting roles as the convict Magwitch, and as Joe, Pip’s gentle and caring foster father. There’s also Jan Hewitt’s wonderfully operatic Miss Havisham to enjoy as well. As an ensemble, the cast works beautifully together, taking on multiple roles, sharing the narration between them, and even performing some live music.

You’ve got two weekends and Bank Holiday Monday to catch this glorious show. Go!

 

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Images by Joseph Mark Photography

 

The Geffrye, Museum of the Home

Great Expectations

The Geffrye Museum of the Home until 1st September

 

Previous ten shows covered by this reviewer:
Holy Land | ★★★ | The Space | June 2019
Strange Fruit | ★★★★ | Bush Theatre | June 2019
The Luncheon | ★★★ | Tristan Bates Theatre | June 2019
Past Perfect | ★★★★ | Etcetera Theatre | July 2019
When It Happens | ★★★★★ | Tristan Bates Theatre | July 2019
Boris Rex | ★★ | Tristan Bates Theatre | August 2019
Horrible Histories: Barmy Britain Part Four | ★★★ | Apollo Theatre | August 2019
Showtune | ★★★★ | Union Theatre | August 2019
The Time Of Our Lies | ★★★★ | Park Theatre | August 2019
Agent 14 | | Upstairs at the Gatehouse | August 2019

 

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