A strong dose of Northern humour allows this gritty tale of grief and avoidance to flourish in the dusty space of childhood memories. Rating
Excellent
Family lofts really are a hotbed for childhood memories. Like so many others, even many years after leaving home there are still many boxes still stored in that dark musty space just beneath my parents’ roof. And I know one day I will need to sift through it to clear it all out and undoubtably reminisce over the memories that will resurrect.
The old family loft is where Ro (Emily O’Mahony) heads when she needs a safe place to escape to, a place to search for both memory and meaning to how she has arrived at this point in her life. And it’s in the loft that sister Ginny (writer Nance Turner) discovers her, much to her surprise because she hasn’t seen Ro for five years. And it’s in the loft that the two sisters rummage through childhood memories and try to piece together their lives, for good and for bad, and work out why one escaped at the earliest opportunity whilst the other remained, even when both agree it was not a happy home.
Jamless is a rarity on the fringe stage, presenting as it does not just a working class voice but also an older (40+) female voice. And it’s not just tokenism representation, this has a true authentic feel to it, unsurprising really considering Turner is just that; a 40-something working class Northern lass. This may be Turner’s debut play, but having been working within theatre for so long, she has clearly brought all that experience and learnings together here. It’s absolutely stuffed with the charm and self-depreciating wit you would expect of such. As Ro and Ginny squabble and tear chunks out of each other it’s done with an appreciation of how siblings can hurl insults one moment and laugh at themselves and with each other mere moments later. As the sisters, O’Mahony and Turner work well together, there’s a sense that they have a shared history, whilst the way they switch from anger to laughter so quickly is deftly managed to further aid that believability.
And beneath all that humour is a grittiness, a sore that needs to be dealt with, and Turner’s writing finds the right spaces for just that. The constant unanswered ringing of Ro’s phone a perfect metaphor that both are avoiding what needs to be addressed. As the sisters delve deeper into those boxes and their memories, it’s clear though that things can only be avoided for so long.
Jamless does a wonderful job of balancing the humour with the drama. It means that even as we are dragged down into the despair of domestic abuse, grief and dredging up childhood trauma, it avoids being too bleak; a wise crack always just around the corner to bring a little light. There’s maybe room to tighten the script up, a few inconsistencies exist here and there, but it’s a small gripe and one that never distracts from the whole.
Keeping the whole play within the confined of the loft is another great decision, the black box space of the Lion & Unicorn Theatre perfectly suited for such, with a single window left uncovered to allow a glance at the world outside of their self-imposed space.
Lion & Unicorn has a strong pedigree in plays about wanting to escape and yet also yearn for the safety of home. Jamless is another in that successful catalogue. In Ro and Ginny we have two sisters who represent the one who stayed to fight and the one who run away to escape. It’s a lovely way to present strong older working class characters all wrapped up with a strong dose of absolute Northern-ness.
Written by: Nance Turner
Directed by: Aisa Nerva-Culley
Technical director: David Brady
Produced by: Northern Spirit Theatre Company
Jamless plays at Lion and Unicorn Theatre until Saturday 8 November.
