Behind the Scenes

A new local company in the rural areas is welcome. Open Space Theatre Company's debut play by Danusia Iwaszko is intriguing so it makes for a compelling evening. Clearly drawing on her own childhood with a Polish father and irish mother, the playwright explores a comic surface rippling with dark undercurrents. Direction comes from the accomplished David Green, the driving force behind the company and he interprets the the comic yet complex family relationships while allowing the deeper moods to bubble up periodically. 

First the family goes on a drive in their Morris Minor - mum, dada and eight-year-old daughter. Amusing references to the 1970s are strabgely comforting but finally dad can take no more and simply walks off, leaving them. Later, we see the women living b y the road, unable to move. The girl is growing up and, while family life has taken on a kind of normality, it is never natural. Meryl Keeble is the child who captures the juvenile moods perfectly. Mum is Yves Green who plays her tragic situation with a fragile grip on sanity. Alan Bolton is the dad who leaves and returns in a Mercedes, still misreading his women and still pedantic.