Yours Abundantly, From Zimbabwe

Yours Abundantly, From Zimbabwe
Oval House – Downstairs Theatre
Directed by Annie Castledine and Ben Evans
Running dates: 30th September – 18th October

Reviewed by rachel Sheridan for Whatsonstage.com

In 2002, just before the elections Gillian Plowman made a trip to Zimbabwe which resulted in a correspondence between a young orphan named Enock and many other orphans. This was the inspiration for the monologue; Boniface and Me, which under the superb and sensitive direction of Annie Castledine and Ben Evans has been work shopped to produce Yours Abundantly, From Zimbabwe.

A large circular platform pivots in the centre of the raked stage. Nell and her daughter Georgia appear on this circular platform; the centre of this rapidly declining world. Nell, like Plowman has struck up a friendship with a community in Zimbabwe much to the annoyance of her daughter. As Nell becomes inundated with letters and appeals from Zimbabwe she struggles with her motives for wanting to help, whilst facing fierce opposition from her daughter who feels she is as deserving of a mother as these Zimbabwean orphans.

The Zimbabwean community are evoked through the reading of letters. There’s a dedicated headmaster; Boniface and his activist wife, orphans forced to grow up and a young girl desperate to be educated. The performances are incredibly moving, full of desperation, yet full of hope. Aicha Kossoko as Violet Masunda (the wife of Boniface) gives an incredibly powerful speech in resistance to Mugabe’s regime. Life in Zimbabwe is so bleak and the courage of the people who live there is remarkable. As you sit in your comfortable seat in the theatre one struggles with the feelings of sadness and guilt but Plowman’s writing is coloured with humour in her depiction of life in Zimbabwe.

Gillian Wright’s tortured Nell is desperate to help but bombarded by requests to do so. How much can one person do? Why is she doing this? Haunted by feelings of guilt, she wonders if she is trying make up for failures within her own family by buying her way into the hearts of this community.

Hannah Boyde’s, Georgia provides an interesting perspective into the different kinds of problems we have to deal with in the Western world. Plowman in no way degrades the emotions of this bitter young woman who really just wants to know that her Mother loves her, however it certainly is a harsh reality check.

Yours Abundantly, From Zimbabwe, does not preach and it does not take you on a guilt trip but it does remind you of what is happening right now in that place you may choose to ignore as you flick to another channel when it appears on the news.

Catalysta

Catalysta
Oval House
3 Stars
Running Time – approx 90 minutes (no interval)
Running dates: 21st October – 8th November

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for Whatsonstage.com

Hurricanes can rip through a city and destroy it within a matter of moments; throwing everything and everyone into turmoil.

Families on the other hand may not seem as threatening and they may take a little bit longer but they too can wreak havoc which unfortunately can’t always be rebuilt.

Allister Bain’s Catalysta emerged from a story that was initially going to be about the devastation caused by Hurricane Ivan in Grenada in 2004. However what emerged is the story of a family in trouble; a family that needs a “catalyst” for change.

It is shortly after Hurricane Ivan’s attack on Grenada and Eartha (Carmen Munroe) is at the end of her tether; not with the effects of the hurricane but with her family. Her daughter (Pat) and her husband (Lionel) and their little girl have moved into Eartha and her husband Edward’s house. Not because they lost theirs in the hurricane but because Lionel is a good for nothing sponger and Pat lets him get away with it. The arrival of Eartha’s sister Catalysta (Angela Wynter) soon changes things as she blows through the house forcing the family to confront issues that are well over due.

The performances are strong; however Catalysta is more of a powerful gale than a hurricane. Bain skates over the surface of this family’s issues without ever really delving further to allow us to discover the reasons for any of their problems and as a result the play doesn’t really go anywhere; it simply meanders along to a rather predictable conclusion.

Having said this, the dialogue is very well observed and the cast turn in engaging performances. Munroe is delightful as the matriarchal head of this family, stern yet soft and she certainly knows how to move. Wynter, as the complete opposite of her sister Eartha is exotic and glamorous as Catalysta but with a beautiful heart and open mind.

The audible enjoyment from the audience in their recognition of certain character types is intoxicating and whilst this can’t be guaranteed every night, Catalysta does appeal to an audience who have similar family backgrounds. Not that it alienates those from other cultural upbringings but with the plot being a little on the weak side it is this point of recognition where the majority of the enjoyment is to be found.

The House of Agnes

The House of Agnes

Written by Levi David Addai

Directed by George Perrin

Oval House Theatre

Theatre Company: Paines Plough

4th March 2008 – 29th March

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for The British Theatre Guide

Friday 8th March 2008


In a play which is so rich with dialogue it seems somewhat ironic that I find myself at a loss for words in describing The House of Agnes. Brilliant simply does not seem to suffice, but for fear of gushing I shall try to elaborate.

Paines Plough kick off their 2008 season at Oval House with House of Agnes; a humorous and poignant exploration of family ties. After forty years of working and raising her two sons Caleb and Solomon in London, Agnes has decided to return to her home in Ghana. Before she leaves she wants to be certain that her two sons will live in harmony together; however her eldest son, Solomon, is living with a girlfriend who Agnes detests and Caleb is determined to turn his mother’s house into a bachelor’s pad. This forces the family to address the question: who will live in the house of Agnes?

George Perrin’s House of Agnes has its doors wide open, welcoming everyone in as the audience are virtually scattered amongst the living room set. Not your typical theatre going crowd, the audience felt completely at home and relaxed as their audible enjoyment was expressed through loud bouts of laughter and thigh slapping, as well as commenting amongst themselves and nodding in recognition at the characters behaviour.

Not a particularly complex plot, House of Agnes is- as the best things often are- kept fairly simple. It is the rich detail in between that gives Levi David Addai’s script such zest and energy. The dialogue has a dynamic rhythm to it as it unites the Ghanaian dialect of Agnes with the urban speech of her two sons, which Caleb litteres with impressive vocabulary in an attempt to prove his intelligence. There is nothing funnier than a script that doesn’t try to be funny. You’ll find no gags here but the hilarity emerges through the superbly observed dialogue and of course through the delivery.

Addai’s characters are brought to life on stage by an impressive cast. Cecilia Noble’s Agnes is both well meaning and overbearing, only wanting the best for her sons and smothering them in the process. A formidable presence on stage Noble is difficult, loveable, frustrating, everything that a mother should be.

Ludvig Bonin as Solomon and Anwar Lynch as Caleb, both united by understanding and separated by sibling rivalry, are faultless. Their bond on stage is natural and unaffected and their comic timing is impeccable.

It is so wonderful when all the elements come together in a production: script, direction, performance, set, lighting and sound. The House of Agnes perfectly illustrates this. This is a play that will strike a chord with anyone who… well anyone who has a family.