The Stables Theatre and Arts Centre
The Bourne, Hastings
East Sussex TN34 3BD
01424 423221
The Bourne, Hastings
East Sussex TN34 3BD
01424 423221
A Passionate Woman
By Kay Mellor
A Stables Theatre production
Directed by Peter Harvey
17–25 April 2009
Reviewed by Penny Jeffries
By Kay Mellor
A Stables Theatre production
Directed by Peter Harvey
17–25 April 2009
Reviewed by Penny Jeffries
Betty is an apparently ordinary, forthright Derbyshire housewife and mother who finds that she cannot bear to stand in church and watch the marriage and departure of her adored only son, Mark. To escape, Betty flees into the attic and refuses to come down. Entreaties and exasperated ultimatums from husband and son make her more obdurate. Amid the detritus of thirty-odd years of unsatisfactory marriage she reviews her life. She starts to remember vividly her passionate younger self, who loved nothing more than to dance until dawn to the music of the Platters and came startlingly near to abandoning her staid and stodgy husband for a more glamorous Polish lover. Betty has to face up to whether or not her life is over with the departure of Mark, and what kind of future she has left.
Kaye Gabriel as Betty had to carry most of the play. Throughout the production she was believable, funny and also likeable as Betty, who for whatever reasons is selfishly going to ruin her son’s big day. Well dressed in true battleaxe, mother-of-the-bridegroom fashion, her accent never wavered. All the reasons for the failure of her marriage become clear as the story unfolds and we realize the faults are not all on one side.
Tom Roche, gamely essaying a much older role as Mark, and Peter Roe, playing Betty’s husband Donald, were very funny as men who realize that they are in the middle of a crisis they cannot comprehend; the woman that they have absolutely relied upon has gone beyond their reach, and they have nothing to say to each other. Ian Cowpland suavely played Craze, the long-dead Polish lover who Betty is tempted by and finally rejects for a much more surprising escape.
Allan Barfield and Frank Jenks’ extremely clever and impressive attic set provided scope for Betty’s ranting reminiscences, moments of slapstick and pathos too. Music of Betty’s youth was key to the action and was well provided, although a sound effect for the crackle and hiss of a record starting on a Dansette would have been welcome. It was a snappy production of a play that will provide a pause particularly for any woman with children growing up too fast.
Kaye Gabriel as Betty had to carry most of the play. Throughout the production she was believable, funny and also likeable as Betty, who for whatever reasons is selfishly going to ruin her son’s big day. Well dressed in true battleaxe, mother-of-the-bridegroom fashion, her accent never wavered. All the reasons for the failure of her marriage become clear as the story unfolds and we realize the faults are not all on one side.
Tom Roche, gamely essaying a much older role as Mark, and Peter Roe, playing Betty’s husband Donald, were very funny as men who realize that they are in the middle of a crisis they cannot comprehend; the woman that they have absolutely relied upon has gone beyond their reach, and they have nothing to say to each other. Ian Cowpland suavely played Craze, the long-dead Polish lover who Betty is tempted by and finally rejects for a much more surprising escape.
Allan Barfield and Frank Jenks’ extremely clever and impressive attic set provided scope for Betty’s ranting reminiscences, moments of slapstick and pathos too. Music of Betty’s youth was key to the action and was well provided, although a sound effect for the crackle and hiss of a record starting on a Dansette would have been welcome. It was a snappy production of a play that will provide a pause particularly for any woman with children growing up too fast.
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Photographs > www.artypharty.com
A selection of production photographs from the 1950s to the present is available at our photographer Peter Mould’s website.
A selection of production photographs from the 1950s to the present is available at our photographer Peter Mould’s website.
