The Bench Production
This play was staged at Havant Arts Centre, East Street Havant - Bench Theatre's home since 1977.
Characters
| Mary | Debbie Money |
| Vi | Nicola Scadding |
| Teresa | Sally Hartley |
| Catherine | Sue Dawes |
| Mike | David Penrose |
| Frank | Pete Woodward |
Crew
| Director | John Batstone |
| Stage Manager | Same Emery |
| Assistant Stage Manager | Zoë Corrigan |
| Lighting Design | Damon Wakelin |
| Lighting Operation | Alice Corrigan |
| Furniture and Props | Derek Callam Sharman Callam Jackie Branson |
| Poster Design | Pete Woodward |
| Publicity | Paul Davies |
| Set Design | Sam Emery |
| Photography | John Plimmer |
| Front of House | John Batstone |
Director's Notes
From King Lear to Chekhov's Three Sisters, the situation of three women, bound by family ties, but dislocated by experience or temperament, has provided a powerful stimulus to the action. In these two plays it is the father, aged and irascible, or dead a year since, who provides the focus for bitterness or loss. The mother does not figure. We know nothing of Lear's Queen or Colonel Prozorov's wife. In The Memory of Water, the father is recalled as a futile, self-absorbed cypher, who never in forty-eight years of marriage spoke a word of endearment and whose last words may have been "Pass the mustard, Marjorie" (not even getting his wife's name right).
But here it is the mother who crucially looms: her bed, her clothes, finally her coffin. It is this that determines the playwright's decision to crack the naturalistic mode and recreate the figure of Vi, as envisioned by the middle daughter. If the play, conventionally, is to move towards resolving the central mystery in Mary's life and attempted reconciliation, the ghostly spectre has to be laid to rest.
In this production the jettisoning of a naturalistic box-set and disconcerting lighting, sets out to reflect the dislocation of these peoples lives.
While working on the play I have enjoyed reading two recent novels: Kate Atkinson's 'Behind the Scenes at the Museum' - mother/daughter squabbles (also in the North of England) and Zadie Smith's 'White Teeth'.
John Batstone
Reviews
The NewsPhilippa Arnell
Snappy comedy is a tour de force
Winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy last year, Memory of Water was an undoubted hit at Havant Arts Centre. It started out as a tame piece of writing, with a reliance on sarcasm and the odd expletive to raise a titter. But as the actors warmed into a snappy pace, it built in to a stunning tour de force from players and playwright.
Shelagh Stephenson's work throws together family members with about as much in common as Jeffrey Archer has with someone who tells the truth. The death of their mother provides the occasion for a get-together. But what starts out as a time for fond recollection turns into a chance to drag up old animosities and re-visit bitter resentments. There's nothing like a stonking row to clear the air.
The six-strong cast delivered strong performances but it was Sally Hartley's transformation from middle class, new age health nut to drunken, frustrated banshee that really stole the show. She was an exquisite drunk - disconcertingly realistic. Likewise, Debbie Money as the acerbic Mary and Nicola Scadding, playing the spectre of mummy dearest, were gripping. Top drama. Until July 28.
The News, 20th July 2001
