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by
BBC South Yorkshire
contributor Jill Gubbins |
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Theatre
can make you laugh and it can make you cry - but it's also a good
opportunity to be nosy.
A play
like Bird Calls can tell you more about a character's life than
they could tell you themselves.
No
man's an island
The
Crucible Studio's new production features two women who've spent
50 years in almost complete isolation on an island.
Their
shared life has led to complete interdependence because Betty is
partially deaf, and Ruby almost blind.
Betty
is the practical caretaker, but Ruby has more of an emotional grip.
She wants to remember, while Betty would rather forget.
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| Conflict:
Michael (Gary Powell) and a bird |
Shared
rituals create closeness: like Betty helping Ruby to bathe and maintain
personal standards, because "I'd rather be pushing up the daisies
than grow a beard."
They
also depend on their physical comforts, like pink wafer biscuits
and the occasional nip of gin - followed inevitably by the chink
of glasses and "Bottoms!"
Their
relationship is fascinating, especially the way they respond when
threatened by change.
When
a desperate solution goes wrong, salvation comes in the form of
Michael, who brings his own conflict.
This play shows the natural resistance to change that can affect
everybody, especially the elderly, and offers a humorous insight
into the lives of a family more resistant to change than most.
Sympathy
without pity
Author
Lesley Glaister's talent lies in allowing the audience to sympathise
with her characters without pitying them, and she's created three
very likeable personalities.
Anna
Calder-Marshall really bought Ruby to life - at times she was demanding
and almost imperious.
But more often she showed her vulnerability and nostalgic side as
she remembered better days.
Rowena
Cooper played Betty and allowed the audience to see what Ruby could
not - her sense of being trapped, conflicting with the freedom the
island offers.
She
also suggested that her memories of the past were painful, and better
left uncovered. In this sense, the characters were at opposite emotional
poles and therefore complemented each other.
Gary
Powell was Michael, a difficult part to play convincingly, but he
did, and proved that he could really be Ruby's saviour and angel.
I was
particularly impressed with the staging in this production.
Intimacy
It
was so refreshing to see a comprehensive 3D house on stage. It
created an instant atmosphere, which is really easily felt in a
theatre the size of the Studio.
I
look forward to more of Lesley Glaister's writing making it to the
theatre - and if it's anything like Bird Calls, all I can say is
that to miss it would be a fate worse than growing a beard . . .
Bird
Calls is at the Crucible Studio, Sheffield until 8 November 2003.
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