It was the winner of the inaugural Wales Drama Award last
year.
“What does that mean?” asks my mother. I summarise that this
was a competition organised by BBC Wales, BBC Writersroom and National Theatre
Wales. She blinks and smiles blankly, nodding. Then I tell her that the
playwright, Katherine Chandler won ten thousand pounds, (knowing this was the
part which would most gage her interest.)
“Oh,” she says, raising her eyebrows. “We’re in for a treat
then?”
And she was right.
This was the first full-scale production from Dirty Protest,
and as a play that pushed boundaries and really had something to say (rather
than being dramatic or shocking for the sake of shocking), they were the
perfect company to stage it.
Picture the scene: in a split stage set-up, we see two
kitchens – both polar opposites. On the left stands a grimy, council estate
kitchen, with no cereal, no milk, and scattered bottles of gin among dirty
ashtrays and broken cupboards. Fifteen year old Steph enters in a t-shirt and
knickers, and looks around for food. Finding none, she sticks her finger a bag
of sugar, before knicking a few quid out of her mother’s purse. Moments later,
in walks Melissa, her mother – hair on end, with last night’s make-up still
caked on. She looks around for food, and on finding none, she also dips her
finger in the sugar. Like mother, like daughter.
On the right, a state of the art, homely, kitchen. Radio six
blasts out over the shiny surfaces, toast with jam, and a bubbling kettle.
Julia, a teacher, drinks herbal tea while quibbling over her post-work book
club. In walks Simon, in fluffy bathrobe, paranoid that the seal around the
shower may have gone. We get the picture immediately: these are two very
different families.
The play looks at the aftermath effect on the two families
after the allegation that a sexual assault has been committed on fifteen year
old Steph at school.
Avoiding spoilers, this was a fantastic piece of theatre,
with carefully crafted, moving characters. It’s a simple story, beautifully
told, with a clear message: “Evil prevails when good men do nothing.” In a
world where children are let down by the selfishness of adults, the most
poignant scene for me was the moment where Steph walked on a tightrope between
the two kitchens – how different her life would have been if fate had swung
another way. The acting was first class, and it was beautifully staged –
most affecting in the scenes where Steph’s speeches from the left fed directly
into the action unfolding in the kitchen on the right.
Angry, fast paced, and unpredictable, this is a play most
deserving of the award, and definitely worth seeing. It’s on until Saturday, so
take your friends, family, and your mum.
You’re in for a treat.
