Breezeblock Park

Putting on a play about life on a council estate, described by one of the characters as "like a camp for refugees", in a hall in one of the most affluent villages in the North of England might qualify for a grant from the Department for Education.  A lesson in how the other half lives, you might say. There again, the tendency to indulge in a bit of one-upmanship in discussions with friends and relatives is probably common to all classes. The size of your house, yacht or car might occupy the minds of some but here it's the cost of a new sofa or the installation of central heating.  But it's all overshadowed by the news that your teenage daughter has become pregnant and her refusal to do what might be considered the right thing.

It's all a reflection of life in the mid1970s, set in the homes of two sisters and their families over one Christmas, as one of them hosts a party on Christmas Eve, the other on Christmas Day and a third couple, their brother and his wife, attend both.  Whilst the men seek sanctuary at the local pub, the women take to the kitchen, reminding us that the origin of the term "in the club", referring to a pregnancy, here relates to the way in which the women band together in support of the mother-to-be. In the end, however, she prefers to face the future without the support of her relatives; their reports of difficult births may not have helped.

Caroline Jamieson as Betty, hostess of the first party, is the first to make an appearance, showing off her new sofa, the price of which varied dependent on to whom the information was given and she gave an amusing performance throughout. Faced with what we might call an unusual Christmas gift, (an adult toy, shall we say) her misunderstanding of its true purpose brought much laughter, whilst her shock much later in the play at hearing her daughter's news was also well played. Husband Syd, clearly not the master of the house, brought a good performance from Jim Bower, who also directed the play with great skill and awareness of the ups and downs of family life. More humour came from Jackie Waite's excellent performance as sister-in-law Vera, a bit of a dippy character, her well-delivered comments with good timing the source of much amusement. To say that her husband, Tommy, likes a drink is probably an under-statement.  It's easy to overplay the effects of inebriation but Adam Stewart took this to just the right level and his attitude when he takes the lead in describing the ways in which the enlarged family might respond to their circumstances was also amusing.  Reeny, Betty's sister, considers her own family to be a little superior to the others (they are the ones with central heating) and Janet Wilson gave an excellent performance in this role.  Her husband, Ted, is a somewhat complicated soul, with an obsession for cleaning his car and, it seems, for the TV programme "Opportunity Knocks".   Dave Pitt gave an entirely convincing performance as a character whose idiosyncrasies caused many a laugh.

The parts of the younger members of the family were also well played. Sandra, the daughter whose news almost ruined the Christmas festivities, was played by Sophia Razak with great confidence.  Her reaction to the discovery of the world outside her family might be typical teenage behaviour but to portray all this on stage still needs great skill. John, son of Reeny and Ted, is another complex character, apparently content to sit quietly in front of the TV for much of the time but subsequently springing into life in defence of his pregnant cousin. Liam Edwards gave a good performance in this role.  Henry Fairnington looked suitably perplexed when introduced to the family as Tim, the student responsible for Sandra's new way of thinking and, indeed, her condition.  Despite showing concern at what he might be letting himself in for, he was willing to fulfil his responsibilities rather than seeing her refusal of his offer of marriage as an escape route from all that might follow. The play ends as the family, putting occasional jealousies aside, closes ranks, apparently ready to move on, albeit without Sandra and Tim for the time being, at least. 

Set as it is in two different houses, there is a need for a complete change of set at the interval and the stage crew should be congratulated on their work in building the sets with a particularly colourful theme for the decor in the second house. Lighting changes reflected the movement of action from lounge to kitchen.   I was amused at the way the scene was set at the outset by two adverts from the 1970s, both for Cadbury's chocolate (good job we were not at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in York!). Although the play, like most of Willy Russell’s work, was written with a Liverpool setting in mind, this does not have to be the case as there are no references to the city in the script and so the cast here were not asked to adopt the Scouse accent. The strength of family ties, such as this play illustrates, can be seen in many situations and in many places, large city or small village alike.     

 

 Putting on a play about life on a council estate, described by one of the characters as "like a camp for refugees", in a hall in one of the most affluent villages in the North of England might qualify for a grant from the Department for Education.  A lesson in how the other half lives, you might say. There again, the tendency to indulge in a bit of one-upmanship in discussions with friends and relatives is probably common to all classes. The size of your house, yacht or car might occupy the minds of some but here it's the cost of a new sofa or the installation of central heating.  But it's all overshadowed by the news that your teenage daughter has become pregnant and her refusal to do what might be considered the right thing.

It's all a reflection of life in the mid1970s, set in the homes of two sisters and their families over one Christmas, as one of them hosts a party on Christmas Eve, the other on Christmas Day and a third couple, their brother and his wife, attend both.  Whilst the men seek sanctuary at the local pub, the women take to the kitchen, reminding us that the origin of the term "in the club", referring to a pregnancy, here relates to the way in which the women band together in support of the mother-to-be. In the end, however, she prefers to face the future without the support of her relatives; their reports of difficult births may not have helped.

Caroline Jamieson as Betty, hostess of the first party, is the first to make an appearance, showing off her new sofa, the price of which varied dependent on to whom the information was given and she gave an amusing performance throughout. Faced with what we might call an unusual Christmas gift, (an adult toy, shall we say) her misunderstanding of its true purpose brought much laughter, whilst her shock much later in the play at hearing her daughter's news was also well played. Husband Syd, clearly not the master of the house, brought a good performance from Jim Bower, who also directed the play with great skill and awareness of the ups and downs of family life. More humour came from Jackie Waite's excellent performance as sister-in-law Vera, a bit of a dippy character, her well-delivered comments with good timing the source of much amusement. To say that her husband, Tommy, likes a drink is probably an under-statement.  It's easy to overplay the effects of inebriation but Adam Stewart took this to just the right level and his attitude when he takes the lead in describing the ways in which the enlarged family might respond to their circumstances was also amusing.  Reeny, Betty's sister, considers her own family to be a little superior to the others (they are the ones with central heating) and Janet Wilson gave an excellent performance in this role.  Her husband, Ted, is a somewhat complicated soul, with an obsession for cleaning his car and, it seems, for the TV programme "Opportunity Knocks".   Dave Pitt gave an entirely convincing performance as a character whose idiosyncrasies caused many a laugh.

The parts of the younger members of the family were also well played. Sandra, the daughter whose news almost ruined the Christmas festivities, was played by Sophia Razak with great confidence.  Her reaction to the discovery of the world outside her family might be typical teenage behaviour but to portray all this on stage still needs great skill. John, son of Reeny and Ted, is another complex character, apparently content to sit quietly in front of the TV for much of the time but subsequently springing into life in defence of his pregnant cousin. Liam Edwards gave a good performance in this role.  Henry Fairnington looked suitably perplexed when introduced to the family as Tim, the student responsible for Sandra's new way of thinking and, indeed, her condition.  Despite showing concern at what he might be letting himself in for, he was willing to fulfil his responsibilities rather than seeing her refusal of his offer of marriage as an escape route from all that might follow. The play ends as the family, putting occasional jealousies aside, closes ranks, apparently ready to move on, albeit without Sandra and Tim for the time being, at least. 

Set as it is in two different houses, there is a need for a complete change of set at the interval and the stage crew should be congratulated on their work in building the sets with a particularly colourful theme for the decor in the second house. Lighting changes reflected the movement of action from lounge to kitchen.   I was amused at the way the scene was set at the outset by two adverts from the 1970s, both for Cadbury's chocolate (good job we were not at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in York!). Although the play, like most of Willy Russell’s work, was written with a Liverpool setting in mind, this does not have to be the case as there are no references to the city in the script and so the cast here were not asked to adopt the Scouse accent. The strength of family ties, such as this play illustrates, can be seen in many situations and in many places, large city or small village alike.     

 

 

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