The Children
Nuclear Family
The Children
by Lucy Kirkwood
Putney Theatre Company at Putney Arts Theatre until 24th February
Review by Steve Mackrell
A plot which involves a retired couple of physicists and a disaster at a nearby nuclear power station are not subjects likely to inspire great enthusiasm for an evening of entertainment at the theatre. But the Putney Theatre Company’s production of The Children served up a fascinating play full of intelligence, comedy and challenging dramatic content.
This thought provoking and award-winning play, which opened at the Royal Court in 2016, was written by Lucy Kirkwood, whose other notable plays include Chimerica, NSFW and The Welkin.
The Children is a three-hander, using the dramatic device of the arrival of an unexpected visitor to disturb the routine of the two main protagonists. In this case, a retired couple (Hazel and Robin), are surprised by the arrival of an ex-work colleague (Rose), after a gap of 38 years.
The play is brought realistically to life by a strong cast as we start to put together the pieces of the jigsaw. Why has Rose returned? Are there hints of a past affair? Why is their cottage sitting on a crumbling cliff, why a tidal wave and explosion, why a Geiger counter, an exclusion zone and a shortage of electricity?
Then, like peeling the layers of an onion, the audience begin to unravel aspects of earlier connections between the characters, with the drama slowly building to tell a compelling story of their past. Against this background, we learn that the retired couple live on an organic farm on the East coast of England, near to a nuclear power station (Sizewell?), where there has been a radioactive leak (as per Fukushima, Japan in 2011). In the aftermath of the disaster the couple, retired nuclear engineers who previously worked at the plant, are trying to preserve normality, Hazel with her yoga, and husband Robin by milking his cows and occasionally checking himself for radiation. Into the fray arrives Rose from a life in America, the catalyst for change and disruption, and a fellow nuclear engineer from their past. Her mission is to persuade Hazel and Robin to go with her to the disaster scene to help stem the radiation leak – a task she feels her generation are responsible for, given they helped build the plant, but moreover to save the future lives of the current generation of scientists, the under 35’s or “the children”.
Playing the married Hazel is Frances Bodiam, who immediately captures the very essence of her character, a cautious wife, mother of four and domestic goddess with a place for everything. In a well observed performance, she reflects a deep suspicion on the arrival of the extrovert Rose, and happily admits to her that she’s “slowed down and melted into her slippers”.
Paul White, playing her husband Robin, gives a convincing and sincere performance as a man struggling valiantly with the odds stacked against him, stubborn in adversity but ultimately optimistic. His explanation of a failed Viagra-fuelled encounter with their milkmaid was delivered with a fine deadpan style delicately balanced between comedy and pathos.
Playing the surprise visitor, Melanie Wakeley brought a dynamic dimension to the part of the brash Rose, independent and childless, and in many ways the opposite of Hazel, and their subsequent argument on their different philosophies was both profound and absorbing. Melanie Wakeley expertly conveyed the spirit of this self-assured and confident activist, still very much in the game of life with her philosophy “if you’re not going to grow: don’t live.” There were also glimpses of her vulnerability, especially in the scene where she recalled, in a stream of consciousness, her early memories about wanting to be like Hazel when she grew up.
Despite the serious subject matter of a nuclear leakage there were moments of fine comedy delivered by the cast. Especially funny were the scenes where Robin discovered Rose’s mastectomy, a torturous explanation of which toilets were reserved for which bodily function and a short discourse on the merits of the milkmaid’s “mesmerising breasts”. Also raising a smile was an explanation by Rose of why, as a 65-year-old woman, she was still taking the contraceptive pill. A good mix of comedy and drama with lashings of well-timed bitchy banter.
Sharp direction from Carrie Cable kept the plot moving along at pace and both the mannerisms, and the reactions between the characters, were beautifully observed. Also, the routines of cutting-up vegetables, pouring wine, eating a salad and even holding a cigarette were directed with thought and care. The short dance sequence to I Heard it Through the Grapevine was deftly choreographed and aptly credible for a group in their sixties.
Finally, one piece of the jigsaw not entirely clarified was the story behind the first born of the four children produced by Hazel and Robin. What was the link between their first daughter, Lauren, soon to celebrate her 39th birthday, and the 38-year gap since Hazel and Robin last saw Rose? Did Hazel deliberately make herself pregnant by Robin to capture him from the arms of Rose? We can reach our own conclusions about this, but what is not in doubt, was the poignant and disturbing end to the play with the sound of crashing waves, followed by church bells mournfully ringing, as if from under the water.
All in all, a darkly comic play which was both compelling and thought provoking. An excellent production with exceptionally strong performances from the cast of three.
Steve Mackrell, February 2024
Photography courtesy of PTC
Mark Aspen 