Three Irish women, Cora, Denise and Anna, only ever meet, two at a time, over cups of tea, sitting at the same table, with months even sometimes years between visits.
Two are sisters. Their chats are wide ranging from talking small intimacies like ‘I love your bracelet’ to crushes that they have had, to the estrangement that has taken place between the sisters, to betrayals in love. O’Rowe’s writing is deeply poetic and there is also a rich vein of humour.
The subject of THE APPROACH, a 2018 play, can be boiled down to the fragile, fraught and complex nature of friendships and relationships, a perennial theme but with O’Rowe’s approach is given a fresh look.
O’Rowe’s touching, warm hearted play is given a very well realised production by Deborah Jones.
The cast are excellent, playing these three intriguing women, midway through their lives.
As Denise, Sarah Jane Starr played the most extroverted, effusive and perky of the three women. Anna and Cora are excited for her as she is pregnant for a second child.
As Anna, Linda Nicholls-Gidley plays a woman who has a dark nature to her and is at times ironical, resentful, bitter, even narcissistic. Of the two sisters, Denise definitely has the sunnier nature.
As Cora, Lindsay Chapman plays the most perplexing of the three women. Cora has, this far, not been able to find a long term relationship, perhaps because she is not that emotionally available. The two sisters tell their all to her which brings us up to speed, but she never actively brokers a peace.
The work of Jones’ creative team; Assistant Director Olivia Bartha, Sound Designer Kieran Camejo and Lighting Designer Alex Holver is exemplary. The cast’s accents are flawless via the work of Accent Coach Simon Masterton.
When the last conversation finishes and the play comes to a close, one feels it with a touch of sadness. One will miss these dangling conversations.
Mark O’Rowe’s THE APPROACH, a Vox Theatre production in association with Dead Fly Productions, is playing the Flight Path Theatre, 9b 142 Addison Road, Marrickville until the 2nd September 2023.
Production photography by Abraham de Souza