I was lucky enough to catch the last Cardiff showing of Carmen Medway-Stephens’ Bara Bread at Chapter Arts Centre on 23rd May and what a treat it was.

As the play begins we see Nettie (Sarah-Jayne Hopkins) the heroine of our story, struggling to come to terms with the loss of her Mother and is rather overwhelmed by the steps to take to enter the next chapter of her life without her Mother’s guidance or reassurance. Nettie has been brought back from the fast paced lifestyle of the city to the rural home comforts of Lovenny and is trying to reconnect to a life she left behind. As Nettie returns to her childhood home she is faced with a book of recipes with a note left from her Mother that reads ‘let’s bake bread together’. As Nettie is failing to complete this task alone she is visited by old and new faces of Lovenny who all unknowingly join a journey of rediscovery as they bake bread together; which leads to the unearthing of dark secrets, tears and belly laughter around a kitchen table that is full love and female solidarity.

What was refreshing to witness was five defined and fully developed female characters who were instantly relatable and likeable despite their human flaws; mostly due to their circumstances. Here were five characters who were working damn hard to try and make it in a man’s world, James Brown ‘It’s a Man’s world’ would have been a welcomed addition to the soundtrack as the women in this story put the ‘it wouldn’t be nothing without a woman or a girl’ into full effect! The character of Maggie packed a punch played by the brilliant Louise Collins, whose character represented the widowed wife storyline with a heart wrenching rawness that was truly reminiscent of the wives who are left behind. The voice of this character grew through this piece culminating to a spark flying, all guns blazing showdown between Maggie and Annabel; (Michelle McTernan) Annabel the character deemed at first as style over substance. 

Throughout the performance each character defied their stereotype that we were first presented with; they all had something to prove a prejudice to fight, similar to the expectations and judgements put on women today. Annabel represented a woman trying to hold on to her youth, her husband, lifestyle without exploring what she truly wanted or needed as she had become consumed by the pressures of society. Nettie was a woman who strived so hard to get the right balance of career and being the perfect girlfriend but was getting lost in the mix, just like her first attempt at baking bread. Maggie gave a voice to the often unvoiced in society, Lara (Saran Morgan) was trying to be like every other young woman her age going out with friends, having fun but also had to juggle life as a young single mother and Mair (Olwen Rees) was the fun loving, life and soul of the party Vicar who was nothing we are taught Vicars should be. Each character reminded us that we have to look beyond appearances and search for the characters on the inside that are sometimes too scared to come out and show society the real them. Sometimes there is comfort hiding in a stereotype and expectation; so to not disappoint others.

Set with simplistic staging that let the story unfold, words breath and characters come to lie without distraction, Bara Bread is a story that has timeless themes that  strike an emotional chord right to the heart of your preconceived thoughts. The story challenges you to embrace the diversity in others and the coming together in times of need just like Nettie found in the unity of Mair, Lara, Maggie and Annabel. A heart warming tale of love, loss and solidarity that will inspire audiences time again.