That Face
Home and Away
That Face
by Polly Stenham
Putney Theatre Company at the Putney Arts Theatre Studio until 14th November
Review by Heather Moulson
In the compact Putney Arts studio theatre, seated as an avenue, we look onto a minimal set just of a bed. This focal point, and the only scenery, impresses with its versatility, symbolism and incipient emotion. It is in a very tight and intimate space. An array of props are packed underneath, including cigarettes, clothes and coffee mugs, apt implements for what follows in the intense ninety-minutes of That Face.
There the play begins as a powerful tableau with Mia and Izzy, two older schoolgirls, who have tied Alice, a third year girl, to the bed in a bullying ritual and initiation. Then something goes terribly wrong. In a powerful performance, these girls are portrayed as disturbed and arrogant.
What follows results in Mia, played in a natural style by Olivia Jackson, fleeing back to an already turbulent home life, with an alcoholic and disturbed mother, Martha, played hauntingly by Penny Weatherall, and her long-suffering older brother, Henry.
Matt Rimmington has great stage presence as the eighteen-year-old burdened with family issues before his time. Holding onto so much, the surprise appearance of his sister only adds to the volatile situation, not to mention the imminent return of their father from Hong Kong. There is a tangible sense of anguish in this claustrophobic setting.
Camille Thiaudiere’s Izzy reappears at the hospital bringing flowers. But she doesn’t bring any trace of remorse for the unconscious Alice, played by Sion Collins. Her sleek and enviable confidence Henry finds alluring, but his bond with Martha, his very troubled and unstable mother, is stronger. However, Mia has a more conflicting and resentful attitude.
Stephen Grist convincingly plays their father Henry, a man out of his depth and in a mindset that money is the answer to everything.
These are all powerful scenes but the volatile slowly unravelling climax seems a mite too long. Nevertheless, Paula Robinson directs this piece, which centres on neglect in a middle-class family, with sensitivity and enlightenment. The ingenious set design by Roger Beaumont, moody lighting by Hayden Lee and apt sound by Jake Franklin, all create a disturbing family atmosphere. Their feeling of loss, each in different ways, is put over clearly with the violent and revealing Henry, Mia’s despair and Martha’s breakdown.
Beautifully done by the Putney Theatre Company, That Face is very strong writing, and a very close look at responsibility and love, and love and damage.
Heather Moulson, November 2026
Photography courtesy of Putney Arts Theatre
