REVIEWS REVIEWS
Every now and then a little piece of genius is produced. This time it is Claire Luckham's play dealing with the time authoress Catherine Cookson spent in Hastings in the run up to the second world war. As with Cookson's writing Luckham has chosen an unremarkable background and woven a memorable tale in front of it. That background was the workhouse laundry which Cookson had been hired to run after leaving her home in the north of England. So what is so remarkable about this play? It is the characters and the actors who play them.
Once the tale is started to be told the pace does not stop as the characters tell their stories under the direction of Sue Wilson. Johanne Murdock, plays Kitty, the young Catherine, with all the conviction that does not allow the audience to think that she is not that person; seldom has an actor succeeded in this way, a splendid performance. She could not have brought this performance off without the help of Becky Hindley, who played Annie, the friend that Catherine makes in this southern seaside town. Becky gives a convincing performance as the Irish laundry worker who makes a friend of the girl from the north. Both girls find themselves lonely, suspicious of men and short of money in what could have been an uncaring environment. They were lucky with the couple who ran the workhouse, a Mr Silverlock (Ian Brooker) and Mrs Silverlock (Sara Coward), but only in the fact that they were good workers which brought rewards. Catherine's mother Kate, played by Michelle Newell, makes a visit and plans are then disrupted until the arrival of Tom, played by Nik Howden, Catherine's future husband. We have cameo parts from David Bannerman, Tim Barker and Poppy Roberts, with Pippa Young and Kate Young playing the Little Kitty and Alice Kynman and Molly Hayward Sampson playing the Little Girl. This was a fine cast of actors who all contributed to the whole.
Only one thing wrong, a migraine inspiring design to some of the programme pages — a pity, programmes are to read in half light. This does not spoil the evening because it was the production that was superb and deserves to be seen by a wide audience. Enjoy this great piece of theatre. © BA
“Kitty and Kate” is at the Round in Scarborough from the 22nd February to the 5th March, 2005. This is a No Smoking theatre.
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