As we file into The Glitch for this headline show in the summer season, the two-strong cast of in defence of adventurous mothers are already on stage, chatting about the set studded with the coloured plastic holds of climbing walls.
The seating is around the edges on this occasion, allowing plenty of space for this large and complex story of siblings coping with the loss in ascent of their mountain climbing mother.
Theo and Nancy were just young children when their mother disappeared. Thrown into the press spotlight, both seek adventures of a different type.
Theo, in an act of rebellion, climbs to the school roof. Nancy emulates her mother in a single-minded way that pushes others away. Their dad (played by both actors depending on the scene) is lost in grief and the burden of being a single dad.
Simon Marshall has written a busy play that jumps about in its chronology, but never, tellingly, allowing the absent mum to speak. It’s a play about identity – Theo falls in love with a boy at school – as well as ambition.
It’s joyful, whether facing the truth head on or hiding behind song lyrics to make a point. And it is about the bond of family that transcends it all, even on the highest of mountaintops.
Lucy Wells and Jack Gray have quite a job playing their characters and everyone on the fringes, at different times in their lives. That they achieve it in what is essentially an empty space is truly commendable.
Director Oli Savage leans into the movement and uses every inch of that space, with costumes and props hidden in the corners, and Wells and Gray perching on shelves.
in defence of adventurous mothers is thoughtful, imaginative, intimate, and tender. It’s already won a VCA Playwrighting Award and gained audience acclaim.
I’m giving this 4 stars.
in defence of adventurous mothers continues at The Glitch, on Lower Marsh, until 4 Aug. Details here.