Jackie Smith’s dark play THE FLOOD is about the return of a younger sister to the family home in remote south western New South Wales. It explores the troubled relationship she has with her ageing mother and her bitter sister. The long gone father and husband is an absent but dominating force in the three characters’ lives.
The mother, played by Shirley Cattunar, is possibly going senile but then again she seems to have never had a great memory to begin with. We see her in the opening scene of the play cutting pictures from the many magazines haphazardly stacked around the room, for her decoupage projects. Her opening monologue is at times hard to understand, possibly as she is trying to capture the indistinct speech of a deteriorating older person. She does capture very well the typical switching of an Alzheimer’s sufferer from lucidity to confusion.
At first, she doesn’t recognise her daughter Cathy, played by Caroline Lee, when she appears at the farmhouse door. Cathy has returned from London to visit her mother and sister. When the ‘penny does drop’, she calls Cathy, “Miss Prissy Pants,” as they start to bicker about why she has returned. The sister who lives at home, Dottie played by Maude Davey, was supposed to warn their mother of Cathy’s arrival!
Dottie arrives home from work and is not overjoyed to see her sister. This is not a close and loving family. Dottie explains to Cathy that she was waiting for the right time to tell their mother. As the story unfolds we understand from their horrible and distressing past why there would never be a good time to discuss Cathy’s return.
Playwright, Jackie Smith, has won the Patrick White Playwright’s Award and there are themes in this play that would be at home in a work of Patrick White. One idea presented is the ethical dilemna of getting an elderly person to lay down false memories to avoid confronting the present tough reality. These themes are sometimes let down by dialogue, such as, “I don’t have to justify myself to you”. The unfolding of their terrible histories is quite gothic and engrossing and how they continue to struggle at a level of just coping is well resolved.
Production designer, Kathryn Sproul, has maintained the high standard we expect from the Glen St Theatre. Sound design by Natasha Anderson is excellent. Direction is by Laurence Strangio and lighting by Bronwyn Pringle.
Jackie Smith’s THE FLOOD opened at the Glen St Theatre, Belrose on Thursday 5th September and runs until Saturday15th September, 2012.
© Mark Pigott
6th September, 2012
Tags: Sydney Theatre Reviews- THE FLOOD, Jackie Smith, Glen Street Theatre Belrose, Shirley Cattiner, Caroline Lee, Maude Davey, Kathryn Sproul, Natasha Anderson, Lawrence Strangio, Bronwyn Pringle, Patrick White Award, Sydney Arts Guide, Mark Pigott