Kathryn Edwards
plays 'Spoonface'.
 |
|
One additional
heartbreak for the parents of terminally ill children is that their
youngsters often seem to display a maturity of character and insight
far beyond their years.
Review by Nick
Brunger
So it is with "Spoonface Steinberg", a seven year old autistic girl
who is dying of cancer.
Originally an award-winning production for Radio 4 the play is a
heart-warming, funny and moving story about life, death and faith
told from the girl's viewpoint.
Nicknamed "Spoonface" because of her unusually rounded features
that first drew doctor's attention to her physical plight, her perception
of events around her is acute even if her thoughts are a little
jumbled.
She believes that her autism is God-given while her mother blames
a tumble and a bump on the head suffered while her parents were
rowing over her father's infidelity.
Set in Spoonface's bedroom with her desk and duvet and cluttered
by her toys and crayons she questions and investigates the world
around her - echoing the words of her parents, Mrs Spud the cleaning
lady, and her physician Dr Bernstein.
As a child moving in a medical world dominated by adults she rejects
the usual trappings of childhood - mocking a fellow patient in a
coma whose family play her extracts from recordings by "Take That"
and Robbie Williams.
Instead Spoonface prefers the music of the great operas, likening
her dying to that of the singers fluttering like birds as they pass
away on stage.
Illustrated by the music of Maria Callas, the words are provided
by Lee Hall - much in demand these days thanks to the success of
his screenplay for "Billy Elliot".
Beautifully observed by Kathryn Edwards to direction by Di Richards,
this adult actress doesn't attempt to play Spoonface as a seven
year old.
Clad in bright pyjamas, her interpretation is a perfect bridge between
an authentic portrayal of a small child and the maturity of insight
that terminal illness bestows.
Performed in a studio setting in the Lace Market bar - with the
audience sat just an arm's length away - Kathryn drew prolonged
and well-deserved applause on the opening night for this single-handed
show.
|
