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 The Hamster Wheel
Reviewed in The Bulletin, by Gary Hills
This early play by Marie Jones has a bitter-sweet theme. Kenny is hit by
a stroke at a young age, leaving wife Jeanette and daughter Cathy to work out
how best to care for him. Family values are shaken up as a balance is sought
while down the road, sister Patsy and husband Norman begin their own parallel
turn of the wheel. The heart of the story is whether anyone can stop the wheel.
Jones tells a tale of everyday folk and encapsulates how adversity can be
overcome simply by living normally, surely something resonant in early 1990s
Northern Ireland.
This was an ensemble piece from the start. An energetic opening set the wheel
turning and threw cast and crew into perfect harmony. Liz Ross and Henry Dobbin
were outstanding as the lead couple, but then so was everyone else : this was a
cast chat cared. No stars, no upstaging, all giving, sharing and most important,
believing. Which meant the audience believed.
The style of the production took a hard look at realism, shook it down and put
it into a theatrical context. We didn't need to see a real television set, a
black box was enough. The actors didn't need to leave the studio on exiting,
they sat in the audience. As a device, it drew us in, involved us and made us
care about the outcome.
There were times when the pace sagged irritatingly and words were lost. The
swift togetherness of the first scene change was not seen through; this
stvlisation needs commitment and would have lifted the overall energy of the
whole piece. That this was noticeable at all is a tribute to the quality of this
fine production. The Irish Theatre Company moved us; we left the studio feeling
different to when we entered. That's good theatre.
Gary Hills
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