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The Memory of Water

Author: Joyce Handbury

Information

Date
16th November 2012
Society
Fourblokes Theatre Company
Venue
The Guildhall, Derby
Type of Production
Play
Director
Barry Taylor

The play is set in a cliff-side home cracking apart from subsidence, which the set and lighting very effectively depict. Three sisters have come together for the funeral of their mother and the whole play takes place in her bedroom. The sisters are totally different in outlook and character and it isn’t long before resentment and discrepancies about past memories cause friction and upset between them. Teresa, the eldest, is embittered about the fact that her sisters left her to care for their mother. Marie Stone was excellent in this role, her portrayal of the various emotions was superb and when she ‘hits the bottle’ her drunken revelations are delivered with such supreme control that you really feel that she is actually inebriated - not an easy ‘condition’ to deliver, convincingly. Mary, the middle sister, supposedly the most successful, being a doctor, appeared to be more concerned with one of her patients than with what was going on around her. Sheridan Holten gave a powerful performance conveying an outer control over inner turmoil and the scenes with her ghostly mother, sensitively played by Hilary Leam, were sublime. The youngest sister, Catherine, a pot smoking, hypochondriac, shopaholic, given to frenetic outpourings or sobbing bouts of hurt was strikingly characterised by Laura Fovargue. The interaction between the three sisters worked very well and the sequence where they dress-up in their mother’s clothes was hilariously staged. Mik Horvath was impressive as Frank, Teresa’s husband, handling the role with great skill, and Stephen Lee-Rees gave a strong performance as Mike, Mary’s married lover. The play was funny, sad, thought provoking and enlightening. Congratulations to Barry Taylor for his excellent direction, to his cast for their wonderful performances and to all involved.

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