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Family
Romance Group: sumus |
| Tom Ogg | |
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This play highlights the tensions and obstacles that are ever-present in family life. Iggy seems to have a more sheltered upbringing, while Liam is all too often in the thick of relationships going wrong. Iggy has less turbulence in the family, but his life becomes sheer monotony. He marries an art teacher (nothing wrong with that is there?), and seems altogether middle class and bored. Liam has a more passionate, and volatile relationship with the sexy blonde, has kids young, and it all goes down the pan at a later date. Sounds a bit clichéd, doesn't it? In part, it certainly is, and the direction the play moves in is not entirely unexpected. But there is more to this production that does make it interesting and worthwhile. The cast is young, having just finished theatre studies at sixth form. This might ring alarm bells, but they are in actual fact rather good. To enjoy it you have to be there in good faith: if you have decided already that you probably won't like it, you won't; unfortunately it does not have the strength to pull you away from your prejudices. Still, this sassy cast portrayed the awkward dinner table politics and the traditional middle class keeping up with the Joneses with good humour and finesse. Some superb and quite moving acting gave depth and quality to the play. Our narrator (interviewer, and social commentator) or 'The Man with the Mike' as they put it, has a bit of the Jude Law thing going on. As for a message, I think the writer is implying that life experience and subtlety should be valued more highly. However, older parents are not necessarily protective and sheltering, and Iggy seems to pay the price for the protection with his boring life. Moreover, young parenting does not have to be bad either. The older lot say they do not approve of the younger's 'school of parenting'; but to be honest, neither were really all that great. Surely there must be some middle ground here? Parenting should not be a choice between absolute asylum and careless abandon. The fact that this message is sent from a young cast both adds to its poignancy. What really marks this production out is the use of dance and movement. Throughout the play, symbolic and almost ritualistic movement and the use of voice gives a fresh dimension to the play. Sometimes it became so wild that I feared for their safety (though they are well trained); it became quite a spectacle. The amount of times that they picked each other up, dragged each other off the stage, and threw each other around was quite breathtaking; it looked bloody tiring, but it also brilliantly expressed the great frustration with the difficult and precarious nature of the relationships within the play. This talented and versatile team has done well.
3
August to 9 August.
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