What a wonderful, moving, imaginative piece of theatre this is ...
The play itself is a wonderful piece of writing, observing a family as its growing children try to extract themselves from their parents influence and elad their own lives - with vaarying degrees of success. The challenges, arguments and pifalls of close family relationships are drawn large on stage and have a real smack of authenticity - or perhaps that's just because of my age (the same as the father's) ... I hasten to add, not because of the way our family is!
I found the play touched deep resonances in me; tears, anger and laughter all resulted. We see a rather lost Rosie, the youngest sibling by far, returning from her gap year and expecting, even needing, her family to be the same as when she left - but that idyll is long gone, cracks have appeared that turn to chasms as the family falls apart. The end is particularly poignant (no spoilers).
Although the play itself has the power to touch, it is the Frantic Assembly touch that really brings it to life and allows the pace to speed along when needed while keeping us engaged and in touch. Set, props and people come and go without breaking flow or speech in a beautifully choreographed dance that truly delights. Introspection and memory are often accompanied by movement more aking to dance with the character being lifted and floating across stage or being posed to emphasies their thoughts. Marvelous stuff.
This is a confident cast, slick in their execution of such a complex production yet almost breathtakingly accomplished in their delivery - these are huge emotional journies they go on and I admire their energy and commitment.
Beautiful
