Sue Jenkins – Live Art Alive

Roberta Kerr as Kay in KIN at HOME
Image credit: Shay Rowan

Written by Christine Mackie

Directed by Sue Jenkins

Her Productions and Best Girl Productions

HOME

Two sisters-in-law come together to bury one man. Robert was a husband to Kay and a big brother to Steph but as the play unfolds it would appear that Robert was so much more as family secrets are revealed and his grieving wife discovers she has just buried a man she barely knew. So far so good in this all female led, meaty saga written by Christine Mackie. This is gutsy, character led drama written to celebrate story telling for women of a certain age and it certainly delivers on all those fronts. There is gritty realism, high drama and even a few post- menopausal punches… weilding fists not fans!

This dark family tale with multiple twists and turns is further strengthened by assured performances from both leads in this two-hander. Roberta Kerr is excellent as Kay, a working class woman who has forged a successful independent business career despite marrying old money in the gentrified Robert. Her performance veers from brusque, pragmatic keep calm and carry on to moments of desperate hurt and pure rage and consternation as Steph blithely tears her world asunder. Kerr makes every moment and gesture count ensuring her on stage presence commands your attention. Steph is equally complex but is a harder watch on stage as her story arc unfolds. Kerry Willison-Parry does a great job delivering many of the witty one-liners as the feckless youngest daughter in a blue-blooded family full of dark secrets. However her character is by turns so utterly loathsome and irritating that it is difficult to feel genuine empathy and affection for this damaged women who has never really grown up and matured. Even in the final moments of the play it seems like her attempts to mother effectively will require Kay to mother her.

Kerry Willison-Parry as Steph in KIN at HOME. Image credit: Shay Rowan

These two women unpick the historic family dynamics in a way that repeatedly pulls them closer then blows them apart until a potentially redemptive ending that may just herald a new beginning for both of them. Director Sue Jenkins ensures that the bleaker dramatic moments are laced through with a blend of dark humour, tea and Chardonnay. There are however concerns where occasional moments of slightly hammed up humour land awkwardly and risk some of the more harrowing events in this production losing their full emotional impact. I can only commend both actresses for maintaining their composure in a particularly poignant scene despite several audience members guffawing throughout a scene that deals with some incredibly sensitive topics. This full length play has all the elements of a juicy Radio 4 play or the Christmas evening episode of a major Soap opera. It’s great to see women writing and creating vivid stories together for themselves and for each other.

HOME MCR 29th Oct – 2nd Nov 2024

Written & Performed by Rosie Fleeshman

Produced & Directed by Sue Jenkins

HOME

This one woman show by Rosie Fleeshman dazzles from start to finish. The set alludes to the plush dressing room of a Hollywood Diva. The opening track You‘re Gorgeous by Babybird nicely frames this piece about a girl who craves adulation and success as best daughter, lover, actress and grammar Nazi.

This is a real gem with sparkling prose, well judged in its blend of dark pathos and gutsy humour. Fleeshman charms and repels with equal flare without ever losing her audience. The standing ovation is well deserved as throughout she uses acutely observed images to enthrall a rapt audience before swiftly making us laugh out loud her wry, blunt humour.

The narrative feels authentic throughout so even her references to her family feel true even when most raw and unflattering. In the end this makes the piece all the stronger as the self awareness and lack of self pity suggest a family that is ultimately flawed but also close and strong- her mother, actress Sue Jenkins is producer and director. The dynamics and dramas of a family of actors is vivid and this narrative could easily lend itself to an excellent novel as well as a play.

The stories of first fumblings, real love and the rabbit hole of Tinder as a means to fill a void are artfully portrayed. The prose is just great as Fleeshman paints domestic images and dating vignettes with the care and precision she doubtlessly painted her tiny London flat with Street Symphony No2.

Life as a trained actress who is an actor waiting to act is described with no self pity but tells a poignant story of every casting call opening a door on another life then giving the key to someone else.

Writing Narcissist in the Mirror may have been an exercise in self therapy and healing as well as a means of taking control of her career. The woman on stage is too self aware to really be a Narcissist but she is certainly a perfectionist and probably her own harshest critic. There has been all the waiting and the yearning to be seen, really really seen and accepted. I really hope as she takes her bows that she truly recognises that she can skip to her own beat and certainly disarm with ability.

At HOME 16/17th January PUSH2018