Revlon Girl

'The Revlon Girl' written by Neil Anthony Docking is a play that is extremely sad, and thought-provoking but also in its way uplifting. The story is based on the real-life tragedy that took place in the Welsh village of Aberfan on Friday 21st October 1966 when colliery spoil tips created on a mountain slope collapsed and very sadly crashed into, and destroyed the school and surrounding homes killing 116 children and 28 adults  Set eight months after the tragedy in 1967 we find that some of the mothers who lost children have set up a meeting place in the Aberfan Hotel, generally to discuss their situation, air their grievances and try to make sense of their changed and traumatised lives. For one of their sessions, they decide to invite a “Revlon Girl” to give them a makeup demonstration and beauty tips as they realise that they had stopped caring about their appearance. What follows on stage is that truths are told and deep feelings are brought to the surface as the mothers try to go on with their lives after such a traumatic disaster and great loss. But what stands out is the shared bond of empathy and understanding that only these women can know about.

The play was performed in the bar of The Little Theatre Southport which was just the right venue for this journey as the audience needed to be part of the action and feel the emotion on stage as this play is intimate and empathy is important not only in the relationship between the actors, but between the actors and the audience. The play opened with sound effects that depict the devastating events, the sound of children playing and then the noise of a landslide. This was followed by a dance routine which I thought at first was a little strange, but I have to say their performance helped to set the scene, the tone and the atmosphere of the play. The dance was very nicely and thoughtfully choreographed by Zoe Findlay and very well performed by Megan Ryan, Katie Allen, Sarah Clayton and Kayleigh Ryan. The lighting of the stage and the venue also added authenticity to the opening and what followed was an outstanding production directed by Amy Palmer-Farra who must be congratulated for all her hard work along with her superb cast who all produced excellent moving performances with well thought-out very different characterisations. It would be remiss of me to highlight just one person for praise as all the five actors worked together and complimented each other’s performances excellently, each performance and how they interpreted their role was important to the success of this production. The cast included Jen Corcoran, as good-natured, Sian who tries to keep the peace and is desperate for another child, but sadly her husband will not look at her due to his embarrassment after she caught him sobbing over the loss of their son. So, she is counting on the Revlon representative to help her make herself attractive to her husband again. Marilyn played by Catherine Dunne is traumatised and struggles with the fact that her children are gone, she carries her daughters drawing in her handbag and keeps hoping and waits each day on her doorstep for them to come home from school, she has not yet visited the graveyard as this would mean they were gone. Then we have Emma Wells-Hall as down to earth Rona, who swore a lot, tells it as she sees it and uses cutting comedy to make her point giving voice to the frustration felt by many of the mothers about the decisions made by certain committees, and the fact that they believe they lost their children because of  the deception and lies of the coal board who had been warned about the danger of the tip and about the meagre compensation given to bereaved families. She is wanting to move because, she cannot face seeing the grief permanently etched on the other mother’s faces. Vicars' wife Jean played by Grace Atkinson was pregnant, she copes with the disaster by believing that God had a reason for wanting all those children by his side. She lost her son who had great potential, however, she also has a daughter who was home sick on the day of the disaster, and later when  playing out complained that there was no one to play with, Jean is upset because she feels her daughter doesn’t appreciate how lucky she is to be alive, it’s obvious that she resents her daughter for being the one still living. Then there Is the Revlon Girl herself whose name was Charlotte played by Lucy Brown who is apprehensive about being there, She originally volunteered to go to the meeting because she thought she could make a difference, but once there, she realised just how naïve she had been, as the women are still traumatised and she finds herself the focus for the women’s resentment and grief and the recipient of some unkind exchanges, but these exchanges are integral to the story. She reveals her reasons for being there, her brother had died and one of the ways her mother dealt with the grief, was by putting on her makeup, Charlotte would help apply her lipstick because her mother’s hands were shaking so much. So, after some in depth discussions and truths revealed the mothers understand that, looking after yourself and putting on your makeup can be an important part of recovery and can make you feel better ready to help them face the world.

As the play was performed in the round, there was no scenery, but the scene was set by using chairs, tables and props which all worked very well.Costumes were right for the era and the characters in the play.Technical input from lighting and sound was very well designed and was an interracial part of the production, the leaking skylight and the sound effect of the dripping water inferred the idea that the room where the meeting was being held was shabby and in a state of disrepair, this all added to the intimacy and authenticity of the production. Congratulations to Stage Manager Dave Cox, lighting and special effects Andrea Shaksmyth-Claire, Sound Jon Andrew’s, Properties Cath Dunne, Wardrobe Lisa Carlin, Wardrobe team and cast, Staging Graeme Hunt and Ridley Haynes and to Emma Wells Hall for helping with hair and makeup.

Congratulations to everyone involved in this outstanding production which does not shy away from very emotive facts. My friend and I had a very interesting and somewhat cathartic evening watching this riveting and powerful performance

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