Forever House (Plymouth)

Forever House may be set in Plymouth but really it could be anywhere.

Journalism lecturer, editor and playwright Glenn Waldron is a Janner born and bred so sets his universal themed piece in his ocean-side hometown where few are content with their lot.

The constant is the house which the audience is invited to visit three times in some 14 years to witness new beginnings for a cast of six.

Richard (a very impressive Dylan Kennedy) is wet-behind-the-ears 1999 schoolboy photographer ready to shake off his parents’ aspirations and head for Goldsmiths to read art. His new friend is Graham (an effective mix of mentor and creep by Tom Peters) is new to town and passionate about the great photographers and is eager to introduce his art to the naïve teen.

Six years later, pregnant estate agent Becci (a wonderfully caustic Becci Gemmell) is delighted to find old schoolmate, aloof Laura (nicely understated by Leah Whitaker) is returning to the city and looking for a place to bring up her child away from the confines of London.

Laura insists that she is not returning home but instead starting out in a new chapter of her life and sees the house as being part of that despite Becci’s misgivings and dashed hopes of retro schooldays nights at the local club.

Another seven years on and Mark (underplayed perfectly by Tom Andrews), on the brink of a new phase of his life, has invited to the house his punk stalker Lucy (Joana Nastri extracts every ounce from this gift of a part). The circle is closed and the question is just how important are our homes, our memories and other people.

A well observed piece, dark in essence but with plenty of humour tightly directed by Joe Murphy.