The Memory of Water

The Memory of Water, Oxford Theatre Guild, Keble College

By Giles Woodforde

Oxford Mail/Times

'It's quite tricky, being nice, isn't it?" Mary says pointedly to her sister Teresa. The relationship between them is far from close, and they have gathered for their mother's funeral. Soon they are joined by younger sister Catherine, who clonks in on a pair of platform shoes. "You can't wear those at mother's funeral," snaps Mary immediately.

It's soon apparent that not all memories of mother are happy ones. "Mum had the cat put down," accuses Catherine. "It got run over by a combine harvester actually," Teresa points out. The three girls are soon joined by two men: Mike, who works in the same hospital as Mary, and Frank, who is Teresa's husband. Frank has been summoned back from Dsseldorf, where he has been selling health foods he doesn't believe in. Mike and Mary are having a rather tetchy affair, not helped by the fact that Mike cannot bring himself to leave his wife. "Your wife is supposed to be at death's door, now she's hopping around like a bag of ferrets," says Mary, on learning that Mike's wife has been out jiving. Meanwhile, Catherine is breaking up with her latest boyfriend: "I give so much," she moans, "I've been to bed with 78 men, and now Xavier doesn't want to see me any more".

Playwright Shelagh Stephenson is no Alan Ayckbourn, but she's got an acute ear for dialogue, and produces some excellent one-liners. "Mum dyed her hair once," reflects Teresa, "Even dogs ran away from her". I can hear Les Dawson coming out with that one. Stephenson is, however, very well served by director Steve Wright and his cast in this Oxford Theatre Guild production - indeed it is probably fair to suggest that the production actually enhances the basic material, and how often can you say that? In particular, there is a darker section in the second half when Mum (Helen McGregor, presenting a very elegant lady) returns from the grave to settle scores with her daughters - this change of gear is most sensitively handled.

Rowena Lennon presents a convincing portrait of spliff-puffing, rejected-in-love Catherine, while Helen Taylor registers strongly as emotionally-tight Mary. "You never made a gesture towards me that wasn't patronising," her mother complains during her visit from beyond the grave. But perhaps the biggest role goes to Kate Sandow: she expertly resists the temptation to overact as whisky-swigging Teresa becomes steadily more objectionable. There's strong support, too, from Bill Moulford and Ralph Watson as the two men, in a production that would do credit to a top-class professional company.

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