Blog: Statehouse Observer

Hazel Bell and Diane Lefley recently brought veteran British playwright Jean McConnell's bored and ascerbic female characters to life in a rare matinee performance of knowing humour at Leytonstone Library as part of the East London Libraries Festival. In two performances the middle-aged professional actors switched roles in scenes from Jean McConnell's 1995 play of the same name. The first half opened with a flawed mother/daughter relationship in 'Early Blight' while the mood was lightened for the second act, a farcical scene at an English seaside resort where two old bods pick at each other while they watch the sea come in. The second play, entitled 'Day Trippers', skillfully revealed how friends think they know each so well only for a slipped remark to change their perceptions of each other.

Paying Audience?

Given that the play was locally advertised and that it was held in a library, on a Saturday, and there were only seven paying members in the crowd including this reviewer, it was a remarkable achievement. Still despite the slightly awkward start, the look of disappointment on the faces of the stage hands at such an empty space the curtain went up and the two actors quickly inhabited their roles. Diane Lefley's character of the harassed daughter, looked ahead in comic restraint, while the mother character, superbly acted by Hazel Bell picked at her daughter at not being able to cope in a modern world. Given the limited run, just two days and a vague mention of previous performances this was a case of blink and you'll miss it. Add to this the fact that the playwright is nearly 80 years old and a veteran British playwright then you get the idea that this was one not to be missed.

Actors

As there were only seven people in the audience, the actors were able to transform us to the intimate living room of a semi-detached house in middle England and/or beaches of, for example, Walton on the Naze. The intimacy of the performance and simple tit for tat of daily banter of the ladies reminds us of the power of live theatre as well as suggest that this established female playwright deserves more than a token turn in the spotlight. Combining the spareness and hesitation of Pinter, with the comic timing of Victoria Wood, the plays have a tinge of Margaret Atwood as if she was consigned to an early, unhappy marriage, living with a husband on the beaches of Northern England. Bleak the vignettes are, but very finely written. A sample of the plays' dialogue is here. Watch the actor use the knitting needles. She knits anxiously, and cautiously, as if concealing a secret, knitting her web of deceit.

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