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| Edinburgh : A&E : Theatre: Reviews |
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If Only ...
- Scottish Premiere.
If only... is a phrase we use when we wish we could turn back time. Get it to go in a different way. Playwrights can and in this most personal and yet accessible play Michel Tremblay does just that. He introduces us to his play. As he says no mother will murder her children, or three sisters dream endlessly of Moscow or husband discover his wife leaving their dolls house. But something else and just as special happens. His play celebrates the ordinary. His own mother who tells him off, despairs of him and speculates whether her favourite film star ever thinks about her and people like her. Nana's an Everywoman. Eileen McCallum as she dashes about, in a fury at her sneering sister-in-law, discovering her son does really enjoy her famed Sunday roast makes you laugh in recognition. She also brings you moist eyed recognition that losing a parent in all her or his messy, flawed and infuriating natures is a real, unassuagable loss loss. The only comfort being at least you knew, lived with, argued and hopefully shared moments of truthfulness when they were alive. Peter Kelly as the Narrator is in reality too old to be even 21. But you see in his playing all the changes from a 10 year old boy skitting Ice under cars to the just adult man who with his precious mother learns to talk about after she's gone. The love between them is electrifying. Tremblay's play rendered by Bill Finlay and Martin Bowman, his excellent translators, into Scots which whings out in to the space ring with its vibrant realism and zest. She's Quebecois, Scots and more - a woman we encounter in every nation. This play also contains a wonderful, heart moving send off. Director Muriel Romanes has ensured nothing gets in the way of these two genuine performances. The theatrical nuggets Tremblay has sure penned into the script are set off by a set of two leather swivel chairs in a blue lit and lined circular alcove framed by an arc of blue fairy lights. The magical end scene has a set of its own. It's the best theatrical present any mother could received. The only tragedy is Tremblay's mother died a long time ago and can not see it. If Only... more theatre could be this complete. © Thelma Good 22 March 2003. - Published on EdinburghGuide.com Cast: Eileen McCallum - Nan and Peter Kelly - The Narrator
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