Film and theatre reviews



The Best Thing
Dir Racheal Savage, Richard Fletcher. Marissa Gunter, Sarah Hawkins, Angela Laverick.
London Int Mime Fest Jan 29 2016
4 stars

Yvonne Roberts wrote in The Observer about this play which is based on women’s experiences of giving up their children for adoption in the 1960s. I was attracted to it because of my experience through my foster brother Peter who was given over to the Church of England Children’s society and a friend who gave up a child for adoption when aged 18 in the 1970’s. The title of the play refers to the phrase repeated to women then that it was “the best thing” for them.

The play was a mine performed by 4 actors wearing masks that even covered their eyes. The actors played out many roles ranging form older parents to a couple of teens and other women. At the beginning of the play the sheet for a memorial service for a woman who had died aged 60 was flashed up on the screen. The play had a shifting time frame. We saw the young woman Susan at home with her father and being given money to have a night out. She is in 60s gear with a miniskirt and bold designs. She then acquires a gormless boyfriend Dennis and they hang out in her bedroom with a record player and orange patterned wallpaper and make love during the 1966 World Cup. She also goes to work, learning to type, this is a wonderfully funny scene with the only sound being that of carriage return, only recognizable to the over 40s. Another witty scene had all 3women on stage under hair dryers producing their bee hive hair-does. The young girl then become pregnant and all three women then give birth on stage. We see the girl’s baby being taken away. Her father tries to cheer her up by buying the “Sergeant Pepper “ album but we can see that she is leaving home. The ending took us back to the memorial for the girl and her lost child.

I was impressed by the range of emotions that were captured on the stage, the small world of the 1960s, the parents’ fears for their daughter, fumbling teenage love. The position of women in the 1960s with their low paid jobs and heavy domestic duties. The father insisted that the girl give up her baby because she was unmarried and the sense of loss was palpable.

It was a powerful production. It would have been improved by more explanation earlier on. It felt as though there were too many time shifts early on and the role of the memorial service was not clear. We also saw the daughter lonely and unloved at the time of the silver jubilee. The play had no words but left a strong emotional and visual impact and exploration of the swinging 60s and its darker side.

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/feb/03/the-best-thing-review-vamos-jacksons-lane-london

http://www.shropshire-events-guide.co.uk/theatre-review-vamos-the-best-thing/


 

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