Myra's in bed and under the covers. Myra's being told to get up and leave the hostel. Myra isn't too keen on leaving that lovely warmth - but she needs her 'medicine'.
So begins Brian Foster's one-woman drama with Fíonna Hewitt-Twamley as middle aged alcoholic Myra, and several other parts besides. She's out on the street, begging from strangers, and ready to tell us the tale of the life that brought her to where she is now. Her father an alcoholic, so it was in the blood. Her life strewn with obstacles to be overcome, until the biggest of them all arrives and she can no longer cope without the bottle. Father, husband, neighbours, friends and a stolen garden gnome people her life, and Myra brings them all to life in her storytelling. There is comedy, tragedy, sadness, accompanied by the underlying knowledge of where this story will end up.
It's an impressive performance from Hewitt-Twamley, not just for providing so many different voices, but melding into the physical attributes of each, with every character well delineated. The script is direct, with little subtlety or ambiguity. More polemic than conventional drama, it makes it's point by wielding a sledgehammer and a ten inch spike. It's theatre for people who don't usually go to the theatre, and, by attracting such big audiences and highlighting just how easy it can be for people to fall prey to addictions and/or homelessness, none the worse for it. (I did see one critic suggest that the humour was Mrs Brown's Boys level - but it was never close to being THAT bad!) Myra's Story is a message that comes across loud and clear. And manages to throw in an effective dig at the British military for their part in creating the violence in Northern Ireland in the seventies.
Deserves to be seen for the strong performance and a truth that deserves to be spoken over and over.
Myra's Story is on at 13.00 in the Gordon Aikman Theatre (George Square) until the 29th.
No comments:
Post a Comment