PARALLEL LINES      

A Review.  Chapter Arts   Nov 21st 2013 . Third age critic

                                                                  Patricia Roper

“Who dun what to whom and why?”  seems to be the crux of this powerful play by the award winning writer Katherine Chandler.

                    But this play is more than a thriller with the requisite twist in the tale.

           Interestingly, it brings together two quite different dramatic art forms.

      Kitchen sink drama which appeared in the 1950’s with the likes of Arnold Wesker , Shelagh Delaney and Alun Owen introduced realistic drama depicting the family lives of working class characters, generally in conflict .

This world was full of anti-heroes ,throwing accusations at each other and dissatisfied with their lives. Some would argue that such earthy and depressing dramas could hardly be described as entertainment.

       In Parallel Lines we meet Steph and her mother Melissa. Their lives are as disfunctional  and disorganised  as the kitchen they inhabit throughout the play  and they hurl plenty of insults and accusations at each other.

  Rachel Redford as Steph and Jan Anderson as Melissa exactly capture the psyche of their characters and play the two antagonists to perfection as they flawlessly move through the range of emotions required of this dramatic form.

Meanwhile, in a parallel kitchen a world apart from the first we have  “The well made play”  This is a dramatic genre from 19th century favoured by Ibsen and Checkov and was taken up in the 20th century by playwrights  such as JB Priestly and Terence Rattigan.Here we are given a tight plot and a climax close to the end , with most of the story having taken place before the action of the play. It even employs the device of papers (or a diary in this case) falling into unintended hands.

        Again, the two actors ,Gareth Pierce and Lisa Diveney give a credible performance as Simon and Julie. Their lives, at first, seem as well ordered as their kitchen. This well groomed, well educated couple inhabit a world of book clubs and gyms and possess a necessary appreciation of nature.

                However, as the stress and tension builds between the pair their cosy world starts to fall apart and we witness the raw agony of their situation.

                 At the heart of this play and the catalyst of conflict is a truth - or a lie. Somewhere there is a truth aching to come out.

Melissa doesn’t want to hear the truth in case it involves social services and the police. In her world and her life the authorities are enemies not friends.

Both Steph and Simon have blurred the truth.

Only Julie wants to know the truth because her cosy, comfortable life is imploding and she has to make sense of it .

                         The play builds relentlessly to an explosive ending with a twist in the tale.The finale is both satisfying and unsatisfying.

  As a thriller it works well and we are kept guessing to the very last lines.

    As a kitchen sink drama some elements don’t quite ring true. Steph is an intelligent girl but she is only 15 and comes from a disadvantaged background, yet at times she appears too learned and insightful. Would she really be familiar with the writings of the political philosopher Edmund Burke ?

     It may, therefore have been more credible if Simon had uttered the last lines as he finally acknowledged his guilt and lack of moral fibre.

                     That might have been more satisfying on all levels. Nevertheless it is still a gripping ,edge of the seat play and well worth seeing,

                                            PATRICIA ROPER