REVIEW: The Memory of Water, Attic Theatre, until 8 June
REVIEW: The Memory of Water, Attic Theatre, until 8 June, by Peter Buckroyd
THE most recent production by Tread the Boards at The Attic Theatre is a remarkable one. This 1996 play by Shelagh Stephenson takes its title from the water memory myth: that water holds memories, though not for long as the swirling water soon transforms itself into a different molecular arrangement, just as the freezing cold day on which the action takes place captures the bleakness of what we witness.
The three daughters who have returned to their mother’s house after her death are very different from each other but all three have memories of the past which involve them and their mother. They combine to create what we would call a dysfunctional family.
Dr Mary has created a memory of the son she gave up for adoption after she became pregnant at the age of 14. Unhappy Teresa who had reluctantly taken on the burden of looking after their dying mother now devotes herself to making all the funeral arrangements while lively, scattered Catherine seeks refuge in shopping for striking outfits.
All three are splendidly created. Abigail Drennan is a ditzy, energetic Catherine who appears to have the attention span of a goldfish, captivated by clothes and shoes, and kept going by the escape which drugs offer. Katherine de Halpert portrays dissatisfied bickering Teresa with misplaced energy, eventually becoming very drunk and nasty to her sisters. Shannon Anthony’s Mary wants to retreat into sleep but we are aware from the outset that something is eating away at her. Director John Robert Partridge casts Emma Wilkes as dead mother Violet as the same sort of age as the sisters, elegant and almost statuesque, but we discover that her memories are no more reliable than those of her daughters.
Add to these two men. Ben Powell adds the erotic to the play, at one stage telling Mary on the bed of her dead mother that he has an erection and at another draped in a towel. A married doctor with three children, he has had an affair for five years with Mary but has no intention of leaving his family. Rob Keeves skilfully brings a sense of the boring ordinary into the play as Teresa’s partner Frank.
Hattie Human’s elaborate and meticulously detailed set with its carrier bag from the now defunct C&A is perfect in providing a stage left area with dressing table for characters to retreat to and Kat Murray’s subtle sound and lighting with well chosen, sometimes ironic, sometimes affecting songs complement the action beautifully.
The Memory of Water is a comedy (at times) but also powerfully emotional. The best direction is that where the audience members accept but do not notice what has been done and the decisions that have been made. John Robert Partridge’s here is a perfect example.
