Woman in Mind (December Bee)

Woman in Mind (December Bee) here performed by Chorley Amateur Dramatic and Operatic Society is the 32nd play written by the very popular English playwright Alan Ayckbourn, first performed In Scarborough, in 1985  then transferring to the West End in 1986. It was his first play to use first-person narrative and a subjective viewpoint and centres around a women named Susan who lives with her rather cold and smug husband, Gerald, a Vicar who is only interested in writing a 60-page history about his parish and his widowed sister Muriel who is trying to contact her late husband and is also a really bad cook. Then there is her son Rick, who is part of a Trappist order in Hemel Hempstead and does not speak to his parents. Susan is very unhappy feels neglected and isolated so to compensate she has invented a perfect fictional family.

At the beginning of the play we find Susan lying on the grass in her garden, she is waking up after being knocked unconscious while stepping on a rake and suffering from concussion. She is confused  and the Doctor is talking to her in what appears to be gobbledegook, she then goes into her fantasy world where her fictional family tells her she’s amazing and shows her the love she doesn’t get from her real family.This perfect family appear to be living a very stereotypical romance novel, idyllic English upperclass life of champagne breakfasts, and tennis matches, they include a loving husband, a jaunty and sporty younger brother and a beautiful adult daughter, all living together on a large country estate. Susan starts talking and interacting with her fantasy family resulting in some lovely comic moments, for example when Doctor Bill tries to placate Susan by pretending to be talking to her fantasy daughter thinking she was a child. But as the play develops the depth of Susan's trauma becomes clear and it is evident that Susan is having difficulty separating her real life from her imaginary world. Gradually as the play moves on her fantasy family begin to become malevolent and threatening and the mood of the play changes from a comedy to a terrifying experience for Susan and we witness her having a nervous breakdown, and then even her language breaks down, when Susan speaks of a December bee when she actually means "remember me".

Expertly Directed by Dave Reid, this was an superb thought provoking production and a great deal of the success of this play depends very much on the demanding central role of Susan, which in this case I am very glad to say was brilliantly played by the talented Cassandra Moon, who was on stage for the full duration of the play. Her performance included wit, warmth, and vulnerability along with confusion and fear. She was supported by excellent strong performances from all the actors in the other roles, they included Dave Reid as Bill , Susan’s comical inept, accident prone well-meaning doctor. Andrew Lomax was Gerald her self centred husband, with Tess Lucas as Muriel, Gerald’s miserable sister and Ross Howarth was Susan’s son Rick. Then we have Susan’s fantasy family who were just right for their roles. They included Jack Vardy as Andy who’s character  appeared very charming and loving at the beginning, but by the end of the play he becomes threatening and rather smarmy. Then there was Olivia Chandler as the daughter Lucy and Jacob Lee Prince as Susan’s brother Tony. At first they both appear to be supportive and loving to Susan, but then we hear them say some rather horrible things while still appearing supportive, but gradually they become possessive and frightening. All the actors suited their roles, maintaining their characters at all times during the production, there were no weak links as they worked together as a team. Diction, clarity of words and the pace of the dialogue was  very good, also comic timing was just right. This play was performed with a lot of heart by a well cast team of actors.

The set was very well designed by Mike Taylor - it depicted a house garden with a grass lawn, bushes, flowers ,garden ornaments and various plants which along with an excellent lighting design from Johnny Makin which helped indicate Susan's different worlds made everything seam very realistic. Sound was operated by Tom Barker which also added to the feel of the production, well done to Stage Manager Mike Taylor and all backstage workers. Costumes by Sandra Dickinson were as is usual just right for the characters adding authenticity to the production.

There may be some initial worry about the use of comedy in a play about mental illness, but as other reviewers have said Ayckbourn tends to build up the comedy before turning the situation on its head, which is evident in this play and it is argued that it is one of his best. It is also said that the role of Susan is one of the best female roles in the theatre.

I must congratulate Director Dave Reid and Production Assistant Mark Jones, the cast and all backstage workers for all their hard work and for bringing this excellent comedic, yet also very poignant, production to the stage. 

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