Made in Britain - Old Red Lion Theatre

Sarah Bryan and James Rallison - Made in Britain - Old Red Lion Theatre

Originally written for Exeunt.


Made in Britain

Directed by: Jonathan O’Boyle

Written by: Ella Carmen Greenhill

Two people, two stories, one pool of water. 

Suicide, cancer. A daughter deserted by her father, a boy punched on the nose by a bully in the playground. Broken Britain, and politicians with holiday homes on the coast. A man who tops himself on cheap vodka and paracetamol because, between the daytime TV and the Job Centre, he just can’t do it anymore. A girl working in retail and living for the chocolate in the staff advent calendar. Christmas shopping, and discovering that her suffering mother’s favourite soap is discontinued. 

The next generation, watching their parents disintegrate beneath a system that has failed them: beneath a cancer that is claiming their livelihood. 

It’s enough to make you angry. Enough to see Danny’s tear-stained face, hear the words “I never meant to hurt anyone”, know he is about to commit an act of violence but feel okay about it. It’s enough to feel real hatred for the Nina’s father when he says he cannot help her with her mother. 

Helplessness, in the face of the unhelpful. 

Yet, these characters sit in the water together. They are not alone, and their individual stories told in parallel finally culminate in their meeting, on the outskirts of a G8 protest against the unjust political system that Danny blames for his father’s demise. Something like romance is hinted at, and it is not until now that we realise how cold the rest of the piece has been. The final message is that Nina should have faith in herself: she can help her mother, and she won’t get it wrong, despite her assertions that she will. And why? Because it matters too much. Meanwhile, Danny walks towards the crowds of protestors, douses himself in gasoline and lights a match. 

Because it matters too much. 

It’s heavy stuff, that is made all the more potent by the sweet attention to detail so rich in Greenhill’s text. Although the ideas of the play lack a fresh perspective, or much depth, they are at least firm, and trade well with the metaphors in the smaller stories in the piece. However, the intrigue this provokes is sometimes met with ambiguity, or thwarted by outright declarations of the play’s political messages, as if a placard is held up before the audience to belittle the ensuing action. This aside, it successfully escalates towards a shrieking protest at the state of the nation, given chillingly through James Rallison’s performance. The play bounces between the characters smartly, and the performances by him and Sarah Bryan carry all the warmth and charisma of true storytellers. 

Despite its occasional dips in clarity and refinement, the play is brave, and bold, and filled with rays of light that are equally as heartbreaking as the pools of darkness. It is a bleak look at the story of contemporary Britain that we know all too well, but with a message of hope  - we, like Nina and Danny, are all in that pool together, sharing in small moments of humanity.

http://www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk/old-red-lion.htm