Finding Gaffney Productions bring Back to MooMoo to the Rondo Theatre, a piece of new writing with an original score by Benjamin Hardy Phillips and Douglas Murdoch.
Photo © Finding Gaffney Productions
It is clearly a personal labour of love for Benjamin Hardy Phillips. The story of a relationship between mothers and daughters, siblings and a distant father who reappears in their lives.
The company of five work hard to bring the characters to life, though the piece is too short to explore the far deeper more complex sides of grief and surviving the loss of a parent.
The returning father is in turn far less welcome. The result is a lot of anger and swearing with little nuance which would add to their struggles and ability to bring depth to the characters.
Lauren Wolfe (Jessie) is the central character, a young woman with Down’s syndrome seeking independence from an overprotective raging sister Leah Brine (Dennis) following the death of their mother, Ruth, played by Lisa Southam.
What appeared to be a perfect trio is shattered without her presence and the sisters simply have to try and find their way to a new normal.
Georgina Palmer (Sophie) arrives as a social worker to provide support and care to Jessie and Dennis and unsurprisingly finds herself in the crossfire whilst trying to bring Jessie’s needs to the top of the list.
Calum Grant (Sean) as the absent father who left after struggling with early parenting of Jessie is less than welcome and fuels the intense situations further despite best intentions.
Told in a mix of flashbacks and painful exchanges of anger and grief the play is tackling a huge subject which is an important one to bring to the table.
No doubt it will generate further discussions amongst the audiences, some of whom no doubt will have similar experiences or worries for their child with additional needs in future years.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Reviewer: Petra Schofield
