Reviews Newcastle Published 20 September 2012

Chalet Lines

Live Theatre ⋄ 13th September - 6th October 2012

Family business.

Graham Lindup

Lee Mattinson’s Chalet Lines follows the story of several generations of Walker women who, for the past 50 years, have holidayed together in Butlins in Skegness.  This year it’s their Nana’s birthday and the family have gathered to celebrate. We first see her tormented grand-daughter Abigail Walker sitting in isolation, both emotional and physical, in front of an imaginary Casio keyboard. But the tone shifts rapidly with the entrance of her sister, Jolene (brilliantly played by Sammy T Dobson). The writing is lively and fast-paced, the jokes coming in a steady stream which can occasionally mean that some of the sharper lines get lost along the way.

All the characters are refreshingly real, and some of the relationships painfully well-drawn, particularly that between sisters Abigail and Jolene and their Aunty Paula. This portrayal of a dysfunctional family from the North East was incredibly familiar and, despite the play’s considerable humour, there is something rawer running under the surface, which occasionally cuts through the comedy. This is never more apparent than the scene in which the hugely self-conscious Abigail is stripped to her underwear while she cowers before her pushy mother, Loretta, who is intent on ‘tarting’ her up to meet her own particular standards.

Viktoria Kay does a superb job of playing a vulnerable character, a woman with cripplingly low self-esteem, but Sharon Percy seems to start out  tentatively as Loretta, slowly growing in confidence over the course of the production; after the interval Loretta really comes  into her own,  with a series of aggressive rants and vicious verbal attacks.

The appearance of Loretta’s grandmother in flashback provides an insight into this inherited malice and hints at a family history of mental ill health. Played by Donald McBride, the only male member of the cast, in a wig and a dress, he was a threatening presence even if the appearance on stage of a man in a dress triggered laughter in some sections of the audience.  McBride’s portrayal of a well to do Geordie matriarch was incredibly well observed, his ‘posh’ accent occasionally slipping to great comic effect. using a put on posh accent to great effect causing much hilarity when it slipped for emphasis. Jill Delow as Aunt Paula also stood out for her seemingly effortless and natural performance, an exercise in beautiful understatement.

Director Madani Younis successfully handled a narrative which shifted back and forwards in time and a time warp effect was created by the numerous light bulbs strewn around the skewed set, allowing the play to shift fluidly between three different family holidays at the chalet.  Colour, or lack of, is used as an effective metaphor for how the characters view their own lives, a theme that is really brought home in the play’s powerful closing moments.

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Graham Lindup is a contributor to Exeunt Magazine

Chalet Lines Show Info


Produced by Bush Theatre/Live Theatre

Directed by Madani Younis

Written by Lee Mattinson

Cast includes Sharon Percy, Jill Dellow, Viktoria Kay, Ann Ridley, Donald McBride, Sammy T Dobson

Link http://www.live.org.uk/

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