Small talk bogs down big themes in a drama that could dive deeper into the complex psyche of a mourning hoarder.Summary
Rating
Good
Hoarded heartbreak dredges up the ‘personal values’ of two sisters at war in Chloë Lawrence Taylor’s debut play at Hampstead Theatre. As they wade through a quagmire of grief, we bounce from brain tumours to bonsai trees in a typically British fashion. Small talk bogs down big themes in a drama that could dive deeper into the complex psyche of a mourning hoarder.
Naomi Dawson’s well studied set design sees the L-shaped Downstairs studio strewn with memorabilia from the analogue age. An array of dusty records lines a raised gangway, which inhabitant Bea (Rosie Cavaliero) and estranged sister Veda (Holly Atkins) cautiously traverse.
Caviliero’s Bea stifles Vesuvian rage as she is picked apart for “caring more about cutlery” than her own family, but the character’s entangled link between grief and hoarding is sensitively unpacked when the manipulation of the sibling’s widowed father comes to light. As Bea is “mopped up” in her father’s grief and is locked into a life “parenting a parent”, steely Veda escapes her eccentric sister, starting an equally complex family of her own.
Veda’s ferocity tempers as she confronts Bea with the reality of her life-limiting illness, encouraging her to let go of the past and take care of her “angry yet vacant” teenage son Ash (Archie Christoph-Allen). Emotionally stricken Ash brings an immediate layer of loss, reeling as the drama unfolds. Christoph-Allen ably navigates Ash’s turmoil, portraying a young man who is overwhelmed by a barrage of new feelings.
Moments of surrealism are explored in a powerful sinkhole dialogue as Veda’s words of affirmation metaphorically lift her sibling from an emotional cavern. Lawrence Taylor’s writing employs the striking imagery of an Argos catalogue burial to depict Bea’s suffocation, whilst an abstract design approach could mimic Bea’s growing entrapment as her hazardous home closes in around her.
Director Lucy Morrison has a nuanced take on the sisters’ fraught bond as initial bickering turns to hopeful admiration. If anything, the bickering lasts too long and an emotional connection to the sisters is not sufficiently established.
The essence of a family home “gobbled up” by hoarding is conveyed with the help of Holly Ellis’ soft lampshade lighting design, which uses an intriguing wall mounted tea cup motif. There is a delicacy in detail here, and yet even for the age of ‘health and safety’ the design feels too safe. The cluttered hermitage lacks the visual chaos needed to induce Bea’s shame or Veda’s outrage.
Personal Values would benefit from deciding on a specific genre as the play could easily go down a darkly comic route or portray a messier kitchen-sink drama. As of now, Bea’s kitchen could use plenty more dirty laundry.
Written by Chloë Lawrence Taylor
Directed by Lucy Morrison
Set Design by Naomi Dawson
Costume by Hannnah Schmidt
Lighting by Holly Ellis
Personal Values plays at Hampstead Theatre until Saturday 17 May.
