New Writing - Garrick Theatre - 04/06/08 by Julia Taylor

I intend to split the Garrick’s evening entitled ‘New Writing’ into two parts.

It consisted of two one act plays, the first of which was a big disappointment and the second was a welcome surprise.

Human Habitation by Rob Johnston

In the past Rob has won awards for his work but, on this occasion, if not quite giving it nil points, I only gave Human Habitation two stars.

I was not alone in trying to understand what Rob was getting at. Other members of the audience said they were equally puzzled. Although he hit on an unusual plot situation in which a man from a mental institution is re-housed in a half way house, he didn’t develop it sufficiently.

Questions needed answering. Who exactly was Frank, the man who welcomed Michael no longer in committal, into the block of flats? Was he the caretaker? He certainly wasn’t the landlord who made a dramatic and unmistakeable entrance.

It was well into the action before we could sort out which character was who.

Why was a gun hidden under the table and why was a stack of money discovered behind Michael’s TV? What was the point of Frank’s car being stolen? It didn’t make sense.

I’m sure with a bit of tweaking these points can be sorted out.

So far as the acting was concerned, the play seemed under-rehearsed. One actor had five prompts. However, Graham Simmonds who played the small part of John, the landlord, made an immediate impact. We were left under no illusion that he was anything other than a baddie and a bully.

Rose Cottage by Steve Pearce

This play was original, interesting, poignant, topical and funny. It was set in a hospital mortuary with a corpse whose feet stuck out, label attached.

Three cleaners enjoyed a fag break there. One, Agneska, a Polish immigrant was, at first, treated differently by her English colleagues. Bernice, the older of the two, was motherly and willing to help her with her English. Carla, a common scouser, was a racist who deliberately taught her inappropriate words.

By the end, Carla and Agneska had become firm friends and had successfully changed their lives. It was Bernice who was left trapped in a dead-end job, chasing ghosts.

The Director, Barry Purvis, immediately got to grips with the women’s personalities making the most of their differences. I particularly liked the way Agneska’s English slowly improved as the play went on until, eventually, she turned the tables on the others.

Leila Glancy as Bernice, Natalie Horne as Carla and Paula Keen as the naïve Agneska gave a well-timed and natural performance. You felt as though you could easily join in with their chatter.

The highlight was probably when Carla in English and Agneska in Polish dispensed with their partners simultaneously on mobile phones.

I enjoyed the play so much I would willingly see it again.

Until Saturday