On the 40th anniversary of her wedding to her (now deceased) husband, a mother invites her three sons and their partners to join together in celebration. What the scalpel-tongued, devious, possessive mother does not anticipate is a night of revelations and revolutions that could see her tight grip on her family finally give way.
The initial impressions deceived in this well staged dark comedy, set in 1966 London. As Connie Francis’s romantic rendition of The Anniversary Waltz faded away, last week’s Harborough Theatre audiences probably thought they were in for a nice schmaltzy evening. How wrong they were! This play is about a family of dodgy builders, whose mother-from-hell marks the death of her husband with an annual gathering. Her three sons, a daughter-in-law and a girlfriend are the reluctant guests, whose frailties she delights in exposing.
The females excelled, but to be fair, they did have the best lines. Caitlin Mottram immediately made her presence felt as daughter-in-law Karen. Snappy pick-ups, easy moves and great timing. Nicky Mawer was hilariously ghastly as the mother with a tongue sharp enough to slice a concrete block. Between them these two set the pace. Emily Staff as Shirley showed versatility, transforming from Tom’s shy girlfriend to a punch-packing partner.
The characters of sons, Tom, Terry and Henry gave individual opportunities for development, seized by Edward Toone, Charlie Sinclair and Benjamin Brooks respectively. Each was desperate to break mother’s stronghold. Tom and his pregnant girlfriend were to be married, Terry and Karen were emigrating to Canada and Henry wanted to be left with his fetish for women’s clothes. Edward’s strong portrayal of Tom contrasted beautifully with Charlie’s characterisation of the damaged Terry, and Benjamin was just subtly odd as Henry.
(Edited from Gordon Birch’s review in the Harborough Mail)
Photography by Andrew Wallace
Presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French inc. www.concordtheatricals.com