British playwight Shelagh Stephenson’s THE MEMORY OF WATER is set in Yorkshire in 1996 in mid winter with a snowstorm raging outside.
Three sisters meet, Mary (Michala Banas), Teresa (Jo Downing) and Catherine (Madeleine Jones) meet at the passing of their mother, Vi (Nicole Da Silva).
All of the action takes place in Vi’s old bedroom, with a superb, finely detailed period set design by Veronique Benett who was also responsible for the show’s costume design. Rachel Chant’s very sensitive direction keeps the action flowing well
Families are, of-course, a rich terrain for play wright’s to explore, and Stephenson does so plenty of humour and pathos. As you would have no doubr assumed, the play is much more character than plot driven.
Nicole Da Silva’s Vi is a haughty woman who hasn’t been the best of mothers though she has tried her best. Through the play she makes appearances, most telling being her interaction with her middle, difficult daughter Mary. The scene was beautifully played by Da Silva and Michala Banas as Mary.
I kept on being drawn to Banas’ performance. A clearly intelligent, articulate woman, a Doctor by profession, she hasn’t been able to manage her personal life well. She has been having an affair with a fellow Doctor, Mike, played poignantly by Johnny Nasser, who won’t leave his wife, the main reason being that he needs to look after her because she is very ill with chronic fatigue syndrome. Mary has reason to believe otherwise.
Though there is plenty of chemistry between them, there is also alot of tension as Mary wants to have a child and Mike doesn’t. As the play unfolds we also learn that there is more to Mary’s story.
Jo Downing gives a very strong performance as Teresa, the oldest sister, who took over most of the responsibility for her mum’s care when she descended into Alzheimer’s and has looked after the practicalities of the funeral.
Whilst she appears to be the most ‘together’ of the three sisters but, in one scene, after a few drinks, she lets out all her disappointments and frustrations. It is a very powerful scene, beautifully played by Downing. Her husband Frank, well played by Thomas Campbell, is embarrassed by Teresa’s outbursts and tries to quell her anger but this just seems to fire her up even more.
It is a theme in Act 2 that each of the three sisters express themselves more.
The youngest sister Catherine, played with such verve by Madeleine Jones, is a portrait in insecurity and attention seeking. Whilst her two sisters have partners, she has not been able to hold on to a relationship, and is envious of them. She sees herself as a very giving woman but this isn ‘t borne out by the facts.
The play’s title is a reference to the world of homeopathy. As Teresa says water can remember the properties of a substance even after it has been diluted and the substance is no longer present. Water still has a memory of it, and the metaphor extends to we humans who can still remember and feel things long after they have gone, with the metaphor extending to the relationships within families and how deeply they impact us, consciously and unconsciously.
My favourite scene in the play takes place when the solemnity of the occassion gives way to the three sisters taking some of the dresses out of their late mum’s wardrobe and playing dress-ups with them. Their energy is very playful and high spirited which comes as a great surprise to Frank who has just flown in to join the ‘grieving’ family.
Memory is a tricky thing. How we remember the same events can be very different, and this is the case with these three sisters. Shelagh Stephenson’s play THE MEMORY OF WATER is playing the Ensemble Theatre, 78 McDougall Street, Kirribilli until the 29th November 2023.