'Forget Me Not' Bush Theatre ***

Over the course of 1945 through to 1968, more than three thousand British children were informed that they were in fact orphans and sent to Australia where they were told that warmth, fresh air, food and lots of opportunities were available. However, this wasn’t true where they experienced neglect and pain. The Bush Theatre’s production of Tom Holloway’s 2013 play, ‘Forget Me Not’ instils a sense of pure disgust with the ‘White Australia’ policy created by the British Government; moreover, the performances worked wonders with the emotions in the plot.

‘Forget Me Not’ is set in both Liverpool and Melbourne where we’re habituated with Gerry, a man in his sixties who as a boy was put on a boat to Australia where he became a labourer and throughout his life, he turned into an abusive alcoholic. He returns to his homeland with his daughter, Sally to Stanley Park, Liverpool where he is sipping tea with neighbourly and quick-witted, Mary. At first, we sympathise with Gerry’s plight as he was lied to as a child, yet, as the play progresses through, our commiserations start to meander as he’s exceedingly rude to his daughter and his case worker, Mark who are doing their level best at helping him reunite with his birth mother. When he is sat with Mary in Liverpool we can see how he finds it difficult to really comprehend his true identity due to the fact that his mother is actually alive and he really wants to meet her. Throughout the performance, the relationship between Gerry and Sally is somewhat problematic as his constant drinking has made Sally to not trust him anymore and this is brought to light when Sally explains about her father’s behaviour prior to his wife’s funeral was disgusting and inappropriate. At Gerry’s home Sally makes it clear that he doesn’t deserve to sleep in the martial bed so she decides to sleep in it to feel close to her mother’s memory. Mark is rigorously searching for Gerry’s birth mother where his search takes him to the other side of the world and luckily enough for him he tracks down her whereabouts, but she is incredibly ills and appears that she is at the end of her life. On the other hand, when she’s informed that her son has been looking for her, obviously she’s shocked and pleased at the same time and says yes to a meeting with him. Back in Melbourne, Gerry is given the good news and he and Sally prepare to jet off to the UK but when they do arrive, Mark has to tell Gerry that his mother has recently passed away. At the finale, we see Gerry in his birth mother’s flat to try to get some kind of his mother’s presence and Sally asks why he has been distant for a lot of her life and it’s all to do with his past. Holloway’s narrative is heart-rending in places as we can see how one man’s hopes of meeting his brother can be crushed, alternatively, the scenes with Gerry and Mary became a little confusing as we think he’s meeting her but we soon find out that this was all a vision in Gerry’s imagination.

One found the performances by the company of, ‘Forget Me Not’ to be dynamite with regards to the emotional capabilities of the play. Russell Floyd is wondrous as central protagonist, Gerry; especially how you can see the amount of alcohol consumption has taken its toll on his well-being and through this it has impacted on all of his relationships and his aggressive tendencies were well executed. Eleanor Bron is splendid as Mary; chiefly how she explains what really happened to Gerry all those years ago and how she was lied to by the British Government, as well as, how being parted from her son has done to her confidence. Sarah Ridgeway is grand as Gerry’s daughter, Sally; mainly how irritated she is with her father’s habits and when she honestly confronts her father about it conveys the rough reality of what a father can do to a relationship. Sargon Yelda is agreeable as Gerry’s caseworker, Mark; expressly how patient is with Gerry’s rudeness as he doesn’t seem to be too cooperative and when he meets Mary you can see the pleasure that it must have to Mark’s career.

Steven Atkinson’s direction is conventional here as he has been able to fully articulate the raw themes of the play, then again, at times what would have been quite interesting is to have seen a little psychosis in Gerry’s mind because of the traumas he had as a child. Lily Arnold’s set and costume design are acceptable as the magnitude of the bareness depicts Gerry’s and Mary’s quest to reunite, but the set is a complete replica to the phenomenal set from, ‘A View from the Bridge’ at the Young Vic. Overall, the experience of, ‘Forget Me Not’ was an intriguing performance about a roller-coaster ride that Gerry, Mary and Sally are going through due to a horrible British Government from 1945-1968.