Date: Friday 7 October (running until 29 October 2011)
Location: The Arts Theatre
Other details: 2 hours, 40 minutes; Mon-Sat 7.30pm and 3pm on Thursdays and Saturdays
The Roles We Play
The Killing of Sister George explores roles - the ones we assume and the ones we can't helping falling back into when the mask drops, and the tension between the two.
Very well played by an experienced cast (Meera Syal, Belinda Lang, Helen Lederer and Elizabeth Cadwallader), it was a delight to see iconic comic actors giving their turn to these roles.
At times the comedy was possibly overplayed, but then maybe that's what the story calls for, as we are taken through the journey of the decision to kill of a radio soap character and June/George's spiral to inevitable breakdown.
The story provides an excellent commentary on what is real and what is not, firmly reminding the audience its only a show after all. Syal at times seemed unsettled as June/George, perhaps as June/George is unsettled with the killing of her alter ego, and thus the identity she has become, brought to excellent effect as Syal slips between the two.
Elizabeth Cadwallader as "Childe" offers us another exploration of roles, as the "woman-child", often put in her place by George, and then also willingly slipping into the role to suit her purposes and manipulate the older women around her.
Helen Lederer swoops in with the comic relief, suitably eccentric and over the top.
But it is Belinda Lang as Mrs Mercy, a caricature, an institution and a latent lesbian who steals the show, and in the end, the girl.
The play is a little dated (albeit staged on a sumptious and lesbian sixties setting), lesbian representation on stage and screen has come a long way, perhaps a slightly more modern portrayal of butch/femme, old/young relationships could have been brought in as Jesse Toksvig's essay in the programme reminds us.
Review by Katie
Location: The Arts Theatre
Other details: 2 hours, 40 minutes; Mon-Sat 7.30pm and 3pm on Thursdays and Saturdays
The Roles We Play
The Killing of Sister George explores roles - the ones we assume and the ones we can't helping falling back into when the mask drops, and the tension between the two.
Very well played by an experienced cast (Meera Syal, Belinda Lang, Helen Lederer and Elizabeth Cadwallader), it was a delight to see iconic comic actors giving their turn to these roles.
At times the comedy was possibly overplayed, but then maybe that's what the story calls for, as we are taken through the journey of the decision to kill of a radio soap character and June/George's spiral to inevitable breakdown.
The story provides an excellent commentary on what is real and what is not, firmly reminding the audience its only a show after all. Syal at times seemed unsettled as June/George, perhaps as June/George is unsettled with the killing of her alter ego, and thus the identity she has become, brought to excellent effect as Syal slips between the two.
Elizabeth Cadwallader as "Childe" offers us another exploration of roles, as the "woman-child", often put in her place by George, and then also willingly slipping into the role to suit her purposes and manipulate the older women around her.
Helen Lederer swoops in with the comic relief, suitably eccentric and over the top.
But it is Belinda Lang as Mrs Mercy, a caricature, an institution and a latent lesbian who steals the show, and in the end, the girl.
The play is a little dated (albeit staged on a sumptious and lesbian sixties setting), lesbian representation on stage and screen has come a long way, perhaps a slightly more modern portrayal of butch/femme, old/young relationships could have been brought in as Jesse Toksvig's essay in the programme reminds us.
Review by Katie
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