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‘I DIDN’T expect that,’ said not one, but several people around me.
The Sounds By The Sea drew to a close in the intimate space that is the Studio Theatre at South Hill Park.
Audience members let out the breath they’d been holding for the final few minutes of the play, and were now voicing their surprise.
Judging by their reactions, the generational family drama from Three Dot Theatre that had promised it would leave audiences on the edge of their seats, had largely succeeded.
Written, directed, and produced by Keir Buist, the play takes place in December 1999 in a Southend pub, where the Morgan sisters have gathered to see in the millennium.
Led by matriarchal Nana, they are a family of female survivors looking towards the future with hope until, that is, a visitor arrives ready to reveal a secret that will turn the celebration on its head.
The women are fiercely close, fiercely proud, and fiercely determined not to tell the truth.
And this becomes a problem when a drink-fuelled game of Truth or Dare begins to unravel various long-lived cover-ups.
“I hate the sea,” said Keir after the show, “I don’t like the sand, or the beach, maybe that’s one reason why I set this drama by the ocean.
“The story came together very quickly – I was keen to do something set in a pub, and I wanted to write for a number of female parts.”
Asked about how easy it is to write for women, he said: “I was mainly concentrating on writing strong human dialogue, neither male nor female.
“But of course, having an older sister, my mum, and my gran, I can draw on my understanding of them as women – although I would add that they are absolutely not inspiration for any of the characters in this play.
“This is such a big story, that it felt right to set it by the sea – the characters all needed a background, and the sea seemed appropriate.”
The sea is indeed a constant in the story, a reminder of the power it has to cleanse and soothe, but whose relentless waves also have the capacity to destroy.
Memories from the past also appear in waves, weaving in and out of the evolving drama, and giving the audience a fly-on-the-wall view of the Morgans’ inner world.
The sisters often appear in parallel time zones, as the girls and the women they have become celebrate new years past and present.
As a technique, it can feel almost filmic.
At this point it should be said that the cast of The Sounds By The Sea is strong throughout.
The women and the girls effortlessly conjure the bonds, the intimate, at times silly, and deeply painful relationships this family fosters.
Nana Mag Morgan (Gerri Farrell) leads the family in her dressing gown.
Wonderfully cantankerous, she refuses to play ‘bloody Twister’, while at the same time threatening to perform karaoke and demanding toast.
Grown-up sisters Kath, (Caroline Loveys), Ruby (Patrizia Petrassi), and Penny (Heather Wilson) have created characters with depth, and handle wide-ranging moments of pathos, comedy and anger with care and thought.
Young Mag (Ellie Notely), and her daughters Young Kath (Isobel Henry), Young Ruby (Piper Charman) and Young Penny (Gabriella Palmaeri) seamlessly paint a warm and honest picture of the family united in its past.
And Baby Amy, (Tilly Mills and Amy Bartholemew) charmingly and convincingly reveals how the youngest generation of Morgan women is coping.
“These really are fabulous actors,” said Keir.
“And what they have achieved in just 16 rehearsals is amazing.”
They certainly give a strong impression of genuine togetherness, illustrated rather charmingly by a couple of the younger girls making their post curtain call exit with joined hands.
It’s not a play for young children, or perhaps even your granny (unless, like Nan, she’s happy on the karaoke platform).
But it is a poignant picture of sisterhood, growing up, and family values, complete with laughs and tears.
There’s plenty of adult language, themes, and action, but there’s also pathos, drama and tenderness.
And a surprising end.
The show is at South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell, this week.
Performances can be seen every evening this week, through to Saturday, October 12.
It starts at 7.30pm, and tickets cost £14.50, £10 for concessions, or £8 for under 16s.
For tickets and information, visit: southhillpark.org.uk
