Contradictions abound in this comedy of the
absurd, written and directed by Hugh Jordan. There is the girl
(Helen Plummer) who is fishing in a pond with no fish and who is
much older than she looks; there is the wife (Caroline Norton) who
has a fixation for her son but she really would have preferred a
daughter and there is the husband (James Thomas Williams) who spends
much time in the garden but is he actually doing any gardening?
Despite this complex mix, the husband
actually gives the most perfect advice on how to look after roses.
As the play develops it may be that these
characters were fated to meet and perhaps resolve the loss of the
husband and wife’s son who was killed on active service as a
soldier. The direction is crisp and the three characters are played
beautifully with a mix of passionate intensity and quiet
sensitivity. It is spellbinding theatre.
****
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