The curiously titled, 60-minute, one-act play for teenagers, 'Blackberry Trout Face' is written by Lawrence Wilson, and originally performed and developed by Liverpool-based theatre company 20 Stories High.
The play is set in Runcorn, and our three cast this evening all gave the local accent a fair airing.
The play takes as its basic premise that three teenagers (the youngest 13 and the eldest at least 18), all with the same mother, but from two different fathers, find themselves left alone in their squat of a house one morning to read a note from their mum (both fathers having flown the nest a long time ago!) telling them she left in the early hours of that morning, leaving them alone to fend for themselves. It is a very dysfunctional family at best. The middle child, Kerrie (Connie Crawford), prepares heroine for her mum every morning, and we learn that said mum has been working as a prostitute the last few months in order to clothe and feed her children. The eldest, Jakey (Jack Findlow), is in trouble with a street gang and tries to escape this life himself by joining up. Whilst the youngest, Cameron (Sam Jeffries), is making an 'invisibility suit' because he is afraid of leaving the house, has panic attacks, and is regularly beaten up by his school peers.
The set was a dirty, untidy, squalid living room-cum-kitchen, suitably dressed for the production. Whilst lighting, costumes etc all too were appropriate. Sound levels were good throughout.
Directed by Maisie Noble and Emily Roberts, the pace of this play was set very slowly. Undoubtedly a deliberate attempt at giving us a feel of their mundane and going-nowhere lives. Sadly the dialogue is uninspiring (which doesn't help) and the play itself is not a gripping drama in any way, but unfortunately, they were unable to bring either drama (jeopardy) or pace to this rather pedestrian production. The scene changes were long, and overall it was rather flat and unstimulating. How this play ever won the award for Best New Play for Young Audiences in 2010 I shall never know!
That being said however, and credit where credit is most certainly due, all three actors did excellently with what they were given, and tried hard to inject both humour and pathos into their real and believable characterisations.
Reviewer - Chris Benchley
on - 24.5.23
on - 24.5.23
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