Heart Wall at the Bush Theatre – review

It’s Friday night in a local pub somewhere near Manchester. Franky is studying in London and now returns to the familiarity of The Sun Inn, where everybody knows each other and karaoke starts at 8pm. But why is Franky’s dad having baths at 3am, and why is her mum suddenly wearing her best top?

Kit Withington’s thoughtful and bittersweet new play, Heart Wall, looks at the concepts of home, grief and what happens when your seemingly solid foundations crumble beneath you. Katie Greenall’s production opens joyfully, inviting audience members to sing their favourite karaoke songs on the pub’s tiny, raised platform, segueing into the play itself.

Franky finds everything is familiar, but after nearly a year away, much has changed. The ever-present spectre of loss in the family seems to be breaching the surface for her father Dez, while her mother Linda is now desperate to find a life after grief. Franky is jolted into seeing her parents as fallible people, while her old friends move on without her, and she can no longer find her footing on what she thought was the solid ground of home.

A vibrant Rowan Robinson strikes a nice balance as Franky, a young woman who finds doubt and change where she had expected stability. Robinson conveys the challenge to understand her parents, despite never having been given enough information about their past to fully grasp their struggles.

Deka Walmsley evokes sympathy as father Dez, who chats to other locals and complains about the pub roof leaking, while battling a sadness that threatens to swallow him whole. As mother Linda, Sophie Stanton does excellent work conveying a woman trying to revive something from a life that has become subsumed by heartache and unhappiness. Together, the pair create the most successful and focused scenes, with touching and believable dialogue about their fractured relationship.

Olivia Forrest is honest and straight-talking as Franky’s childhood friend Charlene, making changes to her life that Franky did not think possible. Completing the strong cast of five is Aaron Anthony as kind and wise pub-owner Valentine, enthusiastically running the karaoke while caring for his sick grandmother upstairs and struggling to pay the bills.

Hazel Low’s set focuses on the bar of the pub, complete with dartboard, Tayto crisps and a large jar of pickled eggs on the counter. A far-too-clean carpet surrounding the bar serves as the setting for scenes outside the pub. As water steadily drips from a leak in the ceiling, various floorboards are taken up, leading to a clever transformation into the edge of a reservoir at the end of the play.

Withington’s writing contains considered dialogue and touches on some profound subjects such as community, memory and how well we ever know our own families. However, the establishing opening scenes take a little while to get going, and some scenes have an unfocused, meandering feel to them, with additional storylines scattered throughout, but not explored. Heart Wall is poignant and thought-provoking: with a tighter focus, it could deliver even more impact.