Old age can be particularly troubling for those who do not necessarily
want to remain living, and when an elderly lady is planning a suicide party,
are there any underlying occurrences that are causing these drastic actions? The Tricycle Theatre’s production of April De
Angelis’ newest offering, ‘After Electra’ establishes the traumas of growing older;
moreover the performances were really whimsical.
‘After Electra’ is set in an Essex bungalow off the coastline
where elderly former feminist artist, Virgine is arranging a small gathering for
her lifelong friends and close family members as she is desperate for her life
to come to an end. As well as, she does appreciate that she has been a terrible
mother to her two children. Her daughter, Haydn, a bereavement counsellor
states that her mother’s motives are preposterous and humongously childish as
she was once an activist back in the 1960’s. When her friends, actor Tom (Neil
McCaul) and his novelist wife, Sonia (Kate Fahy) arrive and when they’re informed
of her plan, they are understandably flabbergasted by her tactics and they
plead to Virgine to stop such fascinations. Virgine’s youngest sister, Shirley
is peeved by her sibling’s actions and argues that she is trying to obtain a
lot of attention and she reminds her of her duties she has as a parent to
Haydn, as she was put into care for time during her childhood. What is most shocking is Vigine’s uncaring
nature towards her child, sister and friends as she constantly speaks about her
schedule and what time she is going to jump off the cliff that is near her
home. When Virgine’s son, Orin (James
Wallace) makes his appearance after his wife has thrown him out again due to
the fact that he has a gargantuan alcohol problem because he is in need of a
place to stay, he falls asleep at the point where he is in charge of keeping an
eye on her. Once Haydn realises that
Vigine has escaped, she is angry by her brother’s lack of focus and when Vigine
is found she appears noticeably perturbed as she wants to die. Over the next couple of days, Virgine becomes
increasingly quiet and unresponsive and even has to be force fed by her
children and at the finale; we learn that Vigine has died of natural causes. As well as, we see a slight romance blossoming
between Haydn and taxi driver, Roy (Michael Beglay). De Angelis’ narrative is
touching as she has touched on how old age can be extremely tedious when the
person in question does not want to carry on living and how planning a suicide
party can cause an effect on all those concerned.
One found the performances by the company of, ‘After Electra’
to be visibly engaging as you can see how much of a camaraderie there are
between this company of actors. Marty
Cruickshank is wonderful as the elderly woman, who is thinking of suicide,
Virgine; especially when she is openly joyful at the prospect of suicide, but
this is in front of her closest people and it shows how un-empathetic she
actually is. Veronica Roberts is excellent as Virgine’s daughter, Haydn;
chiefly when she conveys that her mother’s lack of love and affection, also how
being put into care caused a negative impact to her development and confidence
as a child and teenager. Rachel Bell is great as Virgine’s sister, Shirley;
exclusively how comparatively different Virgine and she are, and that their relationship
has never been that close and that she thinks her sister is a colossal idiot.
Samuel West’s direction is marvellous here as he has crafted
a production that portrays how elderly people who do not desire to remain
living with obviously cause a lot of emotions from those closest to that
specific person and the characterisations are well-characterised. Michael Taylor’s set and costume designs are
sublime as you can see how quirky and eccentric Vigine is as the bungalow has a
mix of old train carriage and a traditional country barn which is grand
dramaturgy. Overall, the experience of, ‘After Electra’ was an interesting presentation
of how old age and planned suicide is a very sad thing to consider.
No comments:
Post a Comment