REVIEW
Southend Shakespeare Company presents
The Children
by Lucy Kirkwood
15-19 March 2022
Dixon Studio, Palace Theatre, Westcliff on Sea
Southend Shakespeare Company presents
The Children
by Lucy Kirkwood
15-19 March 2022
Dixon Studio, Palace Theatre, Westcliff on Sea
IT looks minimalist, at first sight. A cast of just three listed in the programme. A set that presents us with a sparsely furnished rural cottage, somewhere on the coast. But don't be deceived. The Children is a heavyweight of a drama concerning just about the biggest issue you can imagine, the survival of the human species. And its dynamic - life in the aftermath of a nuclear power plant disaster - could hardly be more disturbing in its timing, as the name Chernobyl once again looms large.
The theme strikes all the closer to home when played out in the intimacy of the Dixon studio theatre. Within this space, actor power comes to the fore. The young dramatist Lucy Kirkwood knows how to write parts that actors are going to love to play, and you can see that SSC's cast of familiar faces - Vanessa Osborn, Tracey-Anne Bourne and Ross Norman-Clarke - are relishing every word and gesture of their characters. They seize on the red meat of the writing with zest. It's a joy to watch them at work, so that, despite the disturbing subject matter, The Children provides a great night out for anyone who values live theatre.
The world laid out on stage is sort of Armageddon lite. The air is awash with radiation, and electricity is heavily rationed. Basic devices of the 21st century, like laptops, have become virtually unusable. Cancer, as a result of the leak, is on the rampage like a pandemic. Despite the power plant disaster, late middle-aged couple Hazel and Robin manage to survive, as humans for the most part do. They produce their own food, and contrive to keep up communications with their children in other parts of the country. Spraying the air with iodine droplets, and living off salad, has become part of normal existence. But at least it is, still, existence.
But the placid scene-setting is deceptive. Low-key at first, the play gradually ratchets up tension, until it buzzes like a Geiger counter. You realise that its structure is essentially that of a thriller, even, in some ways, a whodunnit.
For Rose's and Robin's quiet rural existence masks a grim dereliction from their past, amounting to nothing less than the betrayal of an entire generation (the children of the title). Without giving too much away - and The Children contains a couple of shattering plot twists - the key lies in the fact that they are both senior nuclear scientists.
Up the cottage path comes Rose, another nuclear scientist. Neither Hazel nor Robin have set eye on Rose for decades, although she was once Robin's lover. Not surprisingly, there is fierce antagonism between the two women. Hazel no sooner sets eyes on Rose than she hits her in the face.
Rose is still quite prepared to deploy her sexuality where required, but her arrival is really about something other than her old relationship with Robin. She has a request, and it is one that will blow Hazel's and Robin's way of life apart, in a way that the nuclear plant explosion never achieved. One further clue - Hazel and Robin have children; Rose is childless.
It all amounts to an incredibly powerful narrative, and even while you sit in the darkness of the theatre, fixing on the actors, you can't help also turning your mind to the world outside, and all those brooding, pressure-cooker nuclear plants sitting around Europe, waiting, who knows, to turn the world of The Children into reality. This applies all the more forcefully to those of us who have children and grandchildren, and wonder what the future of Planet Earth holds for them. That, no doubt, is what Lucy Kirkwood intended.
Still, I don't want to convey the impression that The Children is relentlessly grim. The Children also has its fair share of humour and fun, including one terrific moment when the play effectively turns into a disco entertainment, and another when Robin reveals his guilty secret - a hidden Pepperami. As ever with Southend Shakespeare Company, you come away just grateful to have witnessed another grand piece of drama, even one like this, which washes away any remaining vestiges of a personal comfort zone.
The Children hasn't been widely performed, and it was certainly a discovery for me. So, thanks to director Joanne Seymour, who came across The Children at a theatre in the Lake District (the area most affected by Chernobyl) and has now brought it to Southend, with timing that seems uncanny.
REVIEW: TOM KING
The Children
Palace Theatre (Dixon Studio), Westcliff
Nightly at 7.45pm until Saturday March 18, mat Sat 3pm
southendtheatres.org.uk
The theme strikes all the closer to home when played out in the intimacy of the Dixon studio theatre. Within this space, actor power comes to the fore. The young dramatist Lucy Kirkwood knows how to write parts that actors are going to love to play, and you can see that SSC's cast of familiar faces - Vanessa Osborn, Tracey-Anne Bourne and Ross Norman-Clarke - are relishing every word and gesture of their characters. They seize on the red meat of the writing with zest. It's a joy to watch them at work, so that, despite the disturbing subject matter, The Children provides a great night out for anyone who values live theatre.
The world laid out on stage is sort of Armageddon lite. The air is awash with radiation, and electricity is heavily rationed. Basic devices of the 21st century, like laptops, have become virtually unusable. Cancer, as a result of the leak, is on the rampage like a pandemic. Despite the power plant disaster, late middle-aged couple Hazel and Robin manage to survive, as humans for the most part do. They produce their own food, and contrive to keep up communications with their children in other parts of the country. Spraying the air with iodine droplets, and living off salad, has become part of normal existence. But at least it is, still, existence.
But the placid scene-setting is deceptive. Low-key at first, the play gradually ratchets up tension, until it buzzes like a Geiger counter. You realise that its structure is essentially that of a thriller, even, in some ways, a whodunnit.
For Rose's and Robin's quiet rural existence masks a grim dereliction from their past, amounting to nothing less than the betrayal of an entire generation (the children of the title). Without giving too much away - and The Children contains a couple of shattering plot twists - the key lies in the fact that they are both senior nuclear scientists.
Up the cottage path comes Rose, another nuclear scientist. Neither Hazel nor Robin have set eye on Rose for decades, although she was once Robin's lover. Not surprisingly, there is fierce antagonism between the two women. Hazel no sooner sets eyes on Rose than she hits her in the face.
Rose is still quite prepared to deploy her sexuality where required, but her arrival is really about something other than her old relationship with Robin. She has a request, and it is one that will blow Hazel's and Robin's way of life apart, in a way that the nuclear plant explosion never achieved. One further clue - Hazel and Robin have children; Rose is childless.
It all amounts to an incredibly powerful narrative, and even while you sit in the darkness of the theatre, fixing on the actors, you can't help also turning your mind to the world outside, and all those brooding, pressure-cooker nuclear plants sitting around Europe, waiting, who knows, to turn the world of The Children into reality. This applies all the more forcefully to those of us who have children and grandchildren, and wonder what the future of Planet Earth holds for them. That, no doubt, is what Lucy Kirkwood intended.
Still, I don't want to convey the impression that The Children is relentlessly grim. The Children also has its fair share of humour and fun, including one terrific moment when the play effectively turns into a disco entertainment, and another when Robin reveals his guilty secret - a hidden Pepperami. As ever with Southend Shakespeare Company, you come away just grateful to have witnessed another grand piece of drama, even one like this, which washes away any remaining vestiges of a personal comfort zone.
The Children hasn't been widely performed, and it was certainly a discovery for me. So, thanks to director Joanne Seymour, who came across The Children at a theatre in the Lake District (the area most affected by Chernobyl) and has now brought it to Southend, with timing that seems uncanny.
REVIEW: TOM KING
The Children
Palace Theatre (Dixon Studio), Westcliff
Nightly at 7.45pm until Saturday March 18, mat Sat 3pm
southendtheatres.org.uk
“Retired people are like nuclear power stations. We like to live by the sea.”
Former nuclear scientists Hazel and Robin are enjoying the quiet life, feeding the cows and practising yoga, while the world around them is descending into chaos.
When an old colleague arrives on their doorstep harbouring a deadly secret, the fallout will be explosive.
Olivier Award-winning writer Lucy Kirkwood deftly weaves charged global issues with everyday domestic squabbles, in a riotous fusion of irreverent wit and gripping drama. A dark yet glorious delight.
"Grips compulsively" Michael Billington, The Guardian
When an old colleague arrives on their doorstep harbouring a deadly secret, the fallout will be explosive.
Olivier Award-winning writer Lucy Kirkwood deftly weaves charged global issues with everyday domestic squabbles, in a riotous fusion of irreverent wit and gripping drama. A dark yet glorious delight.
"Grips compulsively" Michael Billington, The Guardian
We find out a little bit about Tracey Anne Bourne who plays the role of Rose in the production
|
When and under what circumstances did you start taking part in amateur drama?
My first real experience of acting was at University, when I performed the part of Joan in Caryl Churchill’s Vinegar Tom. I got the bug, and was involved a several productions while studying for my degree. When I left, and started working, one of the first things I did was look around to find an amateur group, I did a couple of productions with other groups and then joined the SSC where I have stayed. Are or were any members of your immediate family involved in drama? I am the only one in my family who acts, but other family members are involved in music production and performance, and my mum is very creative. Have you done any formal theatre or musical training? Sadly not, although I did train to teach Drama, and have participated in several workshops delivered by the RSC, which focused on movement, voice and acting skills. Do you have any special skills, from juggling to costume design, that have proved useful on stage? I’m a terrible dancer and I can’t juggle, but I can sing a bit, and I’m very handy backstage, having stage managed a few times. Do you do any accents or impressions? Over the years, I’ve had a fair go at a number of accents, American, in ‘All My Sons’, and French, as Margaret in Richard III, I find it really helpful to record a native speakers talking English in their own accents and use that as a bench mark. |
Which experience/role do you regard as the highlight of your theatre career?
I think that this has to be Cleopatra, this was such a fantastic part and I loved every minute of it, but I think the part I am about to play in The Children may trump it.
Who is the most inspirational person you have worked with/been taught by, in your stage career?
There have been so many inspirational people I have worked with who have taught me so much over the years, Madeleine Ayres gave me some great advice when I first started, which I still draw on today, and I will always remember being on stage with Roy Foster, particularly in Richard III, when I had to kill his character – he was such a wonderful actor to work with. I also found fantastic inspiration from Michael Corbidge, who delivered some of the RSC workshops.
When was your most embarrassing theatrical moment on or off stage?
Entrances and exits can be dangerous - two moments stand out more than others; running on stage in a hurry to find that my costume was coming undone, or running off quickly to find the exit wasn’t where it was meant to be, and having to drop down on the floor and crawl under the curtain. Fortunately, it was a comedy, so it got a laugh at least!
What do you do for a living?
I am an English teacher and a Registrar.
Has your theatre career ever been useful in your day job, and/or have you ever drawn on your day job for any of your stage roles?
My love of Shakespeare helped me enormously with teaching, and vice versa. I also draw on my acting experience when conducting wedding ceremonies,
Tell us about your current production of THE CHILDREN.
This is a really exciting and interesting play. It’s very modern and it explores some very contemporary issues about society and technology, as well as focusing on the relationship between three old friends, and the way our attitudes and beliefs change as we get older. The dialogue is very challenging, as it’s all written in a way to mimic natural speech, so it’s actually quite hard to learn. There’s only three of us in the cast, so I’m really enjoying the opportunity to work closely with two actors I really admire.
I think that this has to be Cleopatra, this was such a fantastic part and I loved every minute of it, but I think the part I am about to play in The Children may trump it.
Who is the most inspirational person you have worked with/been taught by, in your stage career?
There have been so many inspirational people I have worked with who have taught me so much over the years, Madeleine Ayres gave me some great advice when I first started, which I still draw on today, and I will always remember being on stage with Roy Foster, particularly in Richard III, when I had to kill his character – he was such a wonderful actor to work with. I also found fantastic inspiration from Michael Corbidge, who delivered some of the RSC workshops.
When was your most embarrassing theatrical moment on or off stage?
Entrances and exits can be dangerous - two moments stand out more than others; running on stage in a hurry to find that my costume was coming undone, or running off quickly to find the exit wasn’t where it was meant to be, and having to drop down on the floor and crawl under the curtain. Fortunately, it was a comedy, so it got a laugh at least!
What do you do for a living?
I am an English teacher and a Registrar.
Has your theatre career ever been useful in your day job, and/or have you ever drawn on your day job for any of your stage roles?
My love of Shakespeare helped me enormously with teaching, and vice versa. I also draw on my acting experience when conducting wedding ceremonies,
Tell us about your current production of THE CHILDREN.
This is a really exciting and interesting play. It’s very modern and it explores some very contemporary issues about society and technology, as well as focusing on the relationship between three old friends, and the way our attitudes and beliefs change as we get older. The dialogue is very challenging, as it’s all written in a way to mimic natural speech, so it’s actually quite hard to learn. There’s only three of us in the cast, so I’m really enjoying the opportunity to work closely with two actors I really admire.
The cast with director, Joanne Seymour
Which actor do you most admire and why?
Nicola Walker. I think she is incredibly versatile and natural. I would watch her in anything she was in.
What role would you most like to play and why?
The last time I was asked this question, I said, Iago. That hasn’t changed. I would still really like to play this part, it’s fun and sinister and sexy, and I think there is plenty of scope for it to be played by a woman.
Any tips to pass on for learning your lines?
Repetition is the key, and breaking it down in chunks. I also find it really helpful to record other parts onto my phone so I can walk around with headphones talking to myself. My family find it odd, but it works for me.
Any other tricks of the trade to pass on?
It’s good to focus on varying pitch and level of voice – leave yourself with somewhere to go; and work with your fellow actors – react and respond sympathetically. Share your ideas and experience, but listen to the Director – in the end, it’s their production. Oh, and stay hydrated!
Nicola Walker. I think she is incredibly versatile and natural. I would watch her in anything she was in.
What role would you most like to play and why?
The last time I was asked this question, I said, Iago. That hasn’t changed. I would still really like to play this part, it’s fun and sinister and sexy, and I think there is plenty of scope for it to be played by a woman.
Any tips to pass on for learning your lines?
Repetition is the key, and breaking it down in chunks. I also find it really helpful to record other parts onto my phone so I can walk around with headphones talking to myself. My family find it odd, but it works for me.
Any other tricks of the trade to pass on?
It’s good to focus on varying pitch and level of voice – leave yourself with somewhere to go; and work with your fellow actors – react and respond sympathetically. Share your ideas and experience, but listen to the Director – in the end, it’s their production. Oh, and stay hydrated!
Play contains strong language.
By arrangement with Nick Hern books.
This is an amateur production.
Dixon Studio, Palace Theatre
15th March - 19th March 2022
Tue/Wed/Thu/Fri/Sat at 7.45pm Sat Mat 3.00 p.m.
£16.00 / Concs. £1.50 off
Prices shown are inclusive of any applicable booking fees.
Box Office 0343 310 0030
Book online and save time at www.southendshakespeare.org.uk
Cast List
Hazel – Vanessa Osborn
Robin – Ross Norman-Clarke
Rose – Tracey-Anne Bourne
Director – Joanne Seymour
For more information about the SSC visit their new website at
www.southendshakespeare.org.uk