Reeling (24:7 Festival)

Venue: New Century House (Elphick Stage)
Where: Manchester

Seeking an escape from the oppressive atmosphere at their mother’s wake; sisters Alice (Louise-Clare Henry) and Jude (Joanne Smart who also produces) sneak into the house of their neighbour- Mr Melk. They discover that, as his life’s work, Melk has been secretly recording everything that went on in their house (“I tried to escape my past and they’ve brought it out on tape!” cries Jude). This discovery gives the sisters the opportunity to listen again to key events in their lives and to explore and exorcise old resentments.
 
Families in crisis are nothing new in the theatre but there is a freshness to the script by Sean Gregory. He acknowledges that personality can affect recollection and alter perception of the past – Jude has a memory of a blazing row that, it turns out, never happened. Gregory handles with sensitivity the difficult subject of caring for a parent whose increasing frailty has become a burden. He is an evocative writer- using a snatch of a song to remind the sisters of their late mother and a description of the destruction of a wasps’ next that would not be out of place in a horror novel.

There is a risk that the varying moods in the play could lead to a disjointed piece of work. Although the comedy -and even horror elements- are not ignored director Richard Vergette ensures that they fit seamlessly into the evolving story of the two sisters and so enhance rather than distract from their story. In a classy touch, he does not use standards on the soundtrack but original music by Josephine.

The acting is of a high standard. Although not physically similar, Henry and Smart have great chemistry that makes them convincing as sisters and so able to show the thousand nagging resentments that build up over time. Henry gives Alice an underlying vulnerability that off-sets the resentment she shows on the surface. Smart makes Jude a borderline neurotic consumed by guilt and married to a man whom she has come to loathe

The 24/7 Festival always has a gem or two that stand out from the rest of the shows and so far Reeling is the outstanding play for 2010. But it’s only the second day of this fine Festival.

– Dave Cunningham