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Towerblock Dreams
Verdict: Finding the way back home
Towerblock Dreams is drama lasting about 75 minutes in one act. There's a cast of 12.
Charlie lives half-awake. In dreams he remembers mum - she deserted him and his sister Anna. Anna's a reluctant prostitute, Charlie longs for her to stop. They've left a foster-hostel. The kids bullied Charlie so much he mutilates himself. Even now they haunt each second of his half-concious existence. But Charlie has a guardian angel.
She's Abbi, the prettiest blonde-haired angel a lost boy could want - but not necessarily to watch over him when he's having a bath (she says she looks away). Step by step, Abbi guides. Her mission's ambitious - Charlie's redemption. Not celestially, but to enable him to take the gigantic step back into reality.
Quite who Abbi is, is one of the revelations of this tantalising new play. An angel to be sure, but one with form, and her own sad story past.
Towerblock Dreams is a tragedy. Each character is tragic, each deserted or abused by parents, foster parents, guardians. There's some uplift - for some the future may improve. But the lives of most are so damaged, so bleak, so literally hopeless, that the future at best seems to promise only a lessening of pain. It's not one for the suicidal.
Towerblock Dreams shares territory with JM Barrie's The Lost Boys. It's a story of distress, despair, alienation, poisoned roots.
There are strong performances from a cast evoking life in what's effectively a 21st century Dickensian orphanage: Jamie Allan, as big Dog - who finds his mother hanged 'like an angel'. Georgia Duncan as Shel (Michelle) - abused by a protector, mute, protected by arsonist sister Fran, played by Carey Mulligan. Jonathan Gabb as self-mutilating Nick (Fox). Kim Goodwin-Wheatle, as bullying, acutely disturbed and disruptive baby-snatcher Kim. Stephen Hawkes as always-confused Sparrow. Oliver Hawkins as Jack (and Child Abuser). Rosie Mahoney - as profoundly-troubled Dani, longing for future security.
Rhiannon Parry gives big-sister Anna a touching ambiguity; evoking a gentle protectiveness towards Charlie, and a trace of readiness to trust again. Her possible path to a future's delightfully evoked by Mathew Bateman as shy Jason.
Christopher Wear excels as soft-toy-cuddling-stinking-unbathed Charlie. With care in the characterisation, and a light touch in a part that could otherwise be over-acted, he brings this lonesome waif touchingly, credibly - and heartbreakingly - to life.
The night, however, belongs to Alison Collinge. Her Abbi's an angel in word and deed - and thought too, her Abbi's demeanour suggests. A thoroughly-flawed past is subtly sketched in, but the redeemed Abbi is - in Alison Collinge's impish hands - so sweetly cherubic (though with feet anchored firmly this side of the clouds) - that each life she touches risks being improved. It's a performance of skill, evoking from a complex script a character of poignancy and immense emotional power.
Joe Hutton's powerful script tells its story gradually, with pieces building to completion. It's a remarkable work, a terrifying journey into the loneliest parts of the soul. Currently running at 75+ minutes, it could stand a ruthless edit - even down to the hour. Brutal excision of interesting loose ends and repetition could sharply increase clarity - and eliminate occasional flags in the play's otherwise fabulous tension.
Cast Credits (alpha order): Jamie Allan - Dog. Mathew Bateman - Jason. Alison Collinge - Abbi. Georgia Duncan - Shel (Michelle). Jonathan Gabb - Nick (Fox). Kim Goodwin-Wheatle - Kim.
Stephen Hawkes - Sparrow. Oliver Hawkins - Jack, Child Abuser. Rosie Mahoney - Dani. Carey Mulligan - Fran. Rhiannon Parry - Anna. Christopher Wear - Charlie.
Company Credits: Writer - Joe Hutton. Director - Joe Hutton. Lighting Design - Barbara Egervary. Set Design - Alena Ondrackova. DSM, Sound Operator - Barbara Hockaday. Lighting Operator - Nathan Atkinson. Stage Manager - Qaseem Ansari. Company - YoungBlood Theatre. Thanks to: Riverside Studios, John Gallimore, Talent Partnership.
END
John Park
reviewed Thursday 3 June 04 / Riverside Studios
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2009
