Little Gem, Bush Theatre | reviews, news & interviews
Little Gem, Bush Theatre
Little Gem, Bush Theatre
Gobby show about three generations of Dublin women has real heart
Monday, 19 April 2010
Monologue is a boring word, but in the hands of an Irish pensmith it can create some pretty exciting theatre. From a writer such as Conor McPherson or Mark O’Rowe the monologue can set the night alight with its storytelling brio. Word-drunk on these great draughts of bubbling verbal nectar, you soon feel you know the speakers as well as your own family. Yes, a good monologue is that beguiling. Which is exactly the case with Elaine Murphy’s first play, now visiting west London, a lovely and loving set of monologues which create an emotionally rich picture of three generations of Dublin women.
Who are they? Well, there’s Nanny Kay, her daughter Lorraine and her granddaughter Amber. Sixtysomething Kay has been happily married but her husband has had a stroke and she is looking after him. The next generation, Lorraine, has been less lucky in love and Ray, her husband, is a desperate addict who now lives on the streets. He also has an embarrassing knack of turning up when least expected. Finally, teenage Amber is loud and full of energy: she loves getting hammered, until something happens that forces her to slow down.
Murphy tells the story of about a year in the life of these three women by getting them to take turns to chat to us, creating a jigsaw of episodes which fit together with beautiful smoothness. By offering three different viewpoints she also generates moments of acute hilarity as the same verbal detail — the hairiness of a boyfriend for example — carries a different meaning when spoken by each of the characters. Deliciously well observed, the play moves very gradually, over 100 minutes, to a moving ending as the themes of love, loss, birth and death weave together into a final image of female family that is breathtakingly warm. I cried like a baby.
Each of the women in Paul Meade’s production for Guna Nua theatre company is perfectly characterised. Amber, played by Sarah Greene, is a gobby teen who elongates her adjectives and nouns as if they were a piece of chewing gum. Her default mode is mouthy, yet she is also full of intense feeling. Her mum, played by Amelia Crowley, is completely different. Highly strung, disappointed by life, she is a sourpuss who is bossy and controlling. But when a new man shows interest, she lets her hair down and begins to glow. By contrast, Anita Reeves’s Kay is slower, savouring her quiet moments and suffering from “an itch down there”. Her frank attitude to sex underlines the way that Murphy writes against clichéd images of Irish womanhood. These woman are not martyrs.
And yes, there’s a lot of sex in this play, most of it amusing, such as a ticklish episode with the Rampant Rabbit vibrator, and there's also plenty of emotional fuel coursing through these women. In their mouths, Murphy’s language buzzes, then pulses quietly, then shines with a lurid electricity, then calms down again and relaxes. Stress then let go, stress and let go. Surprises keep you on your feet: miss a line here and you won’t be able to grasp the complete story.
You can see why Little Gem, which started off at the Dublin Fringe Festival in 2008 and then transferred to the Traverse Theatre as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, has already garnered a shelf-load of awards. Covering both the joys of life and its grim losses, these monologues deal in raw emotions, psychological reality and comic truths. It is also a testament to the strengths, and indeed strains, of the female experience of family. If that sounds a bit dull, the show is anything but. It is bright and enjoyable: this is a gobby play that has real heart.
Murphy tells the story of about a year in the life of these three women by getting them to take turns to chat to us, creating a jigsaw of episodes which fit together with beautiful smoothness. By offering three different viewpoints she also generates moments of acute hilarity as the same verbal detail — the hairiness of a boyfriend for example — carries a different meaning when spoken by each of the characters. Deliciously well observed, the play moves very gradually, over 100 minutes, to a moving ending as the themes of love, loss, birth and death weave together into a final image of female family that is breathtakingly warm. I cried like a baby.
Each of the women in Paul Meade’s production for Guna Nua theatre company is perfectly characterised. Amber, played by Sarah Greene, is a gobby teen who elongates her adjectives and nouns as if they were a piece of chewing gum. Her default mode is mouthy, yet she is also full of intense feeling. Her mum, played by Amelia Crowley, is completely different. Highly strung, disappointed by life, she is a sourpuss who is bossy and controlling. But when a new man shows interest, she lets her hair down and begins to glow. By contrast, Anita Reeves’s Kay is slower, savouring her quiet moments and suffering from “an itch down there”. Her frank attitude to sex underlines the way that Murphy writes against clichéd images of Irish womanhood. These woman are not martyrs.
And yes, there’s a lot of sex in this play, most of it amusing, such as a ticklish episode with the Rampant Rabbit vibrator, and there's also plenty of emotional fuel coursing through these women. In their mouths, Murphy’s language buzzes, then pulses quietly, then shines with a lurid electricity, then calms down again and relaxes. Stress then let go, stress and let go. Surprises keep you on your feet: miss a line here and you won’t be able to grasp the complete story.
You can see why Little Gem, which started off at the Dublin Fringe Festival in 2008 and then transferred to the Traverse Theatre as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, has already garnered a shelf-load of awards. Covering both the joys of life and its grim losses, these monologues deal in raw emotions, psychological reality and comic truths. It is also a testament to the strengths, and indeed strains, of the female experience of family. If that sounds a bit dull, the show is anything but. It is bright and enjoyable: this is a gobby play that has real heart.
- Little Gem is at the Bush Theatre until 22 May
- Find Elaine Murphy on Amazon
- The cast of Little Gem interviewed
Share this article
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more Theatre
The Harmony Test, Hampstead Theatre review - pregnancy and parenthood
Taboo-tickling comedy about both conceiving a baby and life as empty nesters
Bluets, Royal Court review - more grey than ultramarine
Katie Mitchell’s staging of Maggie Nelson’s bestseller is neither original nor beautiful
Jerry’s Girls, Menier Chocolate Factory review - just a parade that passes by
Three talented performers in a revue that doesn’t add up to much
Richard III, Shakespeare's Globe review - Michelle Terry riffs with punk bravado
A female cast rips into toxic masculinity in a rebalanced treatment of villainy
Between Riverside and Crazy, Hampstead Theatre review - race, religion and rough justice
Stephen Adly Guirgis’s Pulitzer-Prize winner finally makes it to London
Passing Strange, Young Vic review - exuberant pocket musical with a thoughtful core
Giles Terera excels leading a livewire cast in an irreverent look at Black identity
Fawlty Towers: The Play, Apollo Theatre review - lightning strikes twice
John Cleese's sitcom masterpiece makes seamless transition to the stage
People, Places and Things, Trafalgar Theatre review - a scintillating shot in the arm
Duncan MacMillan’s riotous reflection on addiction and recovery returns
Withnail and I, Birmingham Rep review - Bruce Robinson’s 1987 film makes for a theatrical hit
Withnail and Marwood fix up the Jag and head for Birmingham
Sappho, Southwark Playhouse Elephant review - a glitzy celebration of sapphic love
Too much camp and not enough content in this tribute to the Greek poet
Twelfth Night, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre review - burlesque overwhelms the darker notes in this mixed revival
Queer themes and music take centre stage in a café setting
Multiple Casualty Incident, The Yard Theatre review - NGO medics in training have problems of their own
Sami Ibrahim's play examines ethics in a war zone, but pivots to a gimmicky love story
Add comment