Gripping and unsettling
Lynn Freeman
Mauritius, directed by Ross Jolly, Circa Theatre, reviewed by Lynn Freeman
A death in the family brings out the best or worst in people, and Theresa Rebeck takes the latter tack in her comedy/suspense.
Here two half-sisters, one sent away who then chose to stay away, the other stuck at home in what sounds like an unsavoury situation, clash over the one potentially valuable inheritance from their recently deceased mother.
It’s gripping stuff, unsettling and violent in places. What Rebeck does is force her audiences to shift their thinking on which is the most deserving sister, who was most wronged and who most deserves the stamp collection at the heart of the increasingly bitter dispute.
The younger girl, Jackie (Danielle Mason), tests your sympathy many a time. You can see the point of view of the older daughter, Mary (Lyndee-Jayne Rutherford) estranged from her flakey mother and with a seemingly stronger claim to the collection.
What is particularly clever, is that the playwright doesn’t feed you all the information, crucial details are left unrevealed but tantalisingly hinted at.
The seemingly downtrodden stamp dealer, Phillip (Aaron Alexander). Stirling, the vicious buyer, is disappointingly one dimensional as played by Jeffrey Thomas in the first half, he gets more charismatic in the second.
Mason shows us both the vulnerable and ruthless sides of Jackie without losing our concern for her, while the lovable Rutherford, in a clever piece of casting by Ross Jolly, is convincing as the steely, bitter Mary.
The questionable opportunist Dennis (Andrew Foster) becomes endearing as he goes from con man, to con man with a conscience, and Alexander’s bumbling, sarcastic Phillip is well judged.
Jolly loves directing this kind of clever script and he and his cast keep us twisting and turning with the plot. John Hodgkins’ revolving set makes sure little time is lost in set changes as the suspense mounts. Ulli Briese lights the set, with its overhead bulbs and dusty stamp cabinets, to perfection
A death in the family brings out the best or worst in people, and Theresa Rebeck takes the latter tack in her comedy/suspense.
Here two half-sisters, one sent away who then chose to stay away, the other stuck at home in what sounds like an unsavoury situation, clash over the one potentially valuable inheritance from their recently deceased mother.
It’s gripping stuff, unsettling and violent in places. What Rebeck does is force her audiences to shift their thinking on which is the most deserving sister, who was most wronged and who most deserves the stamp collection at the heart of the increasingly bitter dispute.
The younger girl, Jackie (Danielle Mason), tests your sympathy many a time. You can see the point of view of the older daughter, Mary (Lyndee-Jayne Rutherford) estranged from her flakey mother and with a seemingly stronger claim to the collection.
What is particularly clever, is that the playwright doesn’t feed you all the information, crucial details are left unrevealed but tantalisingly hinted at.
The seemingly downtrodden stamp dealer, Phillip (Aaron Alexander). Stirling, the vicious buyer, is disappointingly one dimensional as played by Jeffrey Thomas in the first half, he gets more charismatic in the second.
Mason shows us both the vulnerable and ruthless sides of Jackie without losing our concern for her, while the lovable Rutherford, in a clever piece of casting by Ross Jolly, is convincing as the steely, bitter Mary.
The questionable opportunist Dennis (Andrew Foster) becomes endearing as he goes from con man, to con man with a conscience, and Alexander’s bumbling, sarcastic Phillip is well judged.
Jolly loves directing this kind of clever script and he and his cast keep us twisting and turning with the plot. John Hodgkins’ revolving set makes sure little time is lost in set changes as the suspense mounts. Ulli Briese lights the set, with its overhead bulbs and dusty stamp cabinets, to perfection
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