17 – 18 May
In a silent prelude, three women pull and tug at each other. There is both affection and tension. One strives to get away, but she is inexorably drawn back. Written by Hattie Collins and directed by Rachael Walsh, Kindle is a fifty-minute one-act play that tells how society’s current ills have devastating consequences for a mother, Angela, and her two daughters, Heather and Holly. The range of topics touched on includes global warming, the decline of the rural economy, class inequality and mental health. Angela runs a rural petrol station, and is forced to take extreme measures to make ends meet. Heather, somewhat adrift, has stayed at home and simmers with resentment at what she sees as the favouritism bestowed on her sister Holly, who now has a degree and is ‘hanging around with toffs’ in the city.
The writing frequently packs quite a punch, as when Angela bitterly reflects that ‘Some of us can’t afford to be moral.’ Joanne Rogers conveys Angela’s mounting desperation very vividly. We see a single working mum who is ‘not one of those women who actually has time for mental health.’
Sally Geake is a convincingly aggrieved and angrily pugnacious Heather, though it would be good to see more of the wit that apparently makes her a local hit as a stand-up comic.
As Holly, Hattie Collins depicts a young woman who strives to move upwards and out, but who is inextricably tied to her roots. Heather tells her, ‘You’re a part of this place whether you like it or not.’ The inner conflict arising from Holly’s aspiration to join a higher social class is of itself a sufficiently weighty subject for an entire play, but Kindle has other fish to fry. Holly is also something of an eco-warrior, bringing her into direct conflict with her mother, who literally cannot afford to stop selling petrol. Social conscience bumps up against social reality.
The most successful sequences in Kindle occur when the political and the domestic issues interweave seamlessly, but there are other times when the writing becomes too self-consciously polemical. This is almost inevitable in a play that is determined to cover such a wide range of issues in a short space of time. Kindle is undeniably ambitious in breadth of subject matter, but a sharper focus upon a narrower range of ideas would have been beneficial. However, there is much to admire in this play. Thought provoking and clearly driven by an intense awareness of social injustice, the writing frequently carries considerable emotional heft. Last night’s sell-out performance at The Alma left an appreciative audience with much to ponder.
★★★★☆ Mike Whitton, 18 May 2023
Photo credit: Charlotte East, East Photography
