The Revlon Girl

The Revlon Girl is a play by Neil Anthony Docking and is set in a room above a pub in Aberfan in 1967, 8 months following the disaster which caused the death of 144 people. 116 of them children from the local Primary School. It is a very moving but harrowing piece of theatre revisiting one of the greatest tragedies in welsh history and having worked for 20 years in the mining industry myself, one that brought back many memories. Even now I remember as a primary school pupil myself at the time, that awful day.

The story follows a group of mothers trying to get on with their lives following the loss of their children, each one different and coping in their own way. They had arranged secretly to have a representative of Revlon come and do a presentation, whilst doing their best to hide it from the community. This was not helped by the Revlon Girl parking her Zodiac out front.

The set was very simple and minimalistic, played to blacks which suited the production really well, also the studio being so intimate allowed each member of the audience believe they were part of the production.

Sian who we met first was played by Delyth Mai Lewis and Delyth gave a fantastic performance as the cheery person trying to get everyone to join in, even her interaction with the unseen Jackie played by Lynfa Ackerman set the tone, with the leaking roof, getting the bucket and the crashing of the materials stored in the cupboard , however as we learnt later she was also suffering with her husband ignoring her following the tragedy and longing to have another child, so she is hoping that the Revlon Girl can make her pretty again for him to return to his loving ways.

Marilyn the shy and quiet mother was played by Pam Tewkesbury, she down-played the character really well, convinced that her daughter had forecast the disaster the day before with her drawing but somehow believing that the children would come back .

Rona was played by Gaynor Thomas who burst onto the set like a tornado, cursing and swearing. This character proved that everyone grieves in their own way and some of her lines were probably the most meaningful, especially, I will never queue in my life again after having queued for hours to identify the bodies.  Her venom towards the authorities was plain to see.

Jean the pregnant vicar's wife was played by Sian Elson, she coped using her faith in God having a reason for the disaster wanting the children by his side. Having lost a son with great potential she now is upset with her daughter who was home ill on the day of the disaster but complains that she has nobody to play with. She believes that she should be grateful that she is alive, and never discusses her pregnancy.

Each one of the ladies had a powerful monologue during the play expressing their feelings and I liked how Allan had set the stool in the centre so everyone of them were as if the were talking to individual members of the audience.

Finally Revlon or as we later found out Charlotte was played by Ffion England.  Ffion played the Bristol girl who was so stressed about being here really well. Taking all the criticism thrown at her especially by Rona for her donation to the disaster fun and showing her unease really well. Her looks in total contrast to the mothers set her apart but as we found out later, she also had been struck by tragedy in her life , when she described that it wasn't just lipstick whilst explaining how she looked after her mother following the death of her brother.

This play is an extremely well written piece of work and is a great vehicle for a talented cast of ladies to perform.

Allan certainly had a talented cast and is to be congratulated on a moving and well performed piece of theatre.

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