Being a Norfolk girl, Arnold
Wesker’s Roots, the second in his trilogy of late 1950’s plays, is very
dear to me. A Norfolk accent is
notoriously difficult to perfect and, it was with this in mind, that I went to
the first night preview at The Donmar
with some trepidation. Totally
unnecessary where the majority of the cast of this production is concerned,
that is apart from Beatie, the youngest of the Bryant children, who has up-sticks
and left for life in the big smoke. At
this early stage in the play’s run, Jessica
Raine had failed to perfect the accent at all. I’m hoping that by the time press night comes
around, this will have improved because the character’s habit of clambering
onto chairs and pontificating on what her London boyfriend, Ronnie, has to say
on almost everything, jarred in the extreme.
This niggle, however, is the only one in what is a wonderful
production by James Macdonald. Roots
is a vivid portrayal of a rural, working class family, surviving if not really
living when life dependent on the land is hard.
They don’t have the time or inclination to worry about life outside
their close-knit community, a fact that irritates the hell out of Beatie. She is now living in London and going out
with Ronnie, a young socialist (based on Wesker
himself), who believes that if something is broke then fix it. She spends her visit to the family preaching
without practicing everything Ronnie tells her in order to raise them out of
what she believes is their stupor. Her
condemnations result either in wry amusement or mild anger rather than
wonderment at her boyfriend’s beliefs but, despite this, everyone pulls out all
the stops for Ronnie’s proposed visit.
This is a kitchen sink drama in every sense of the word and Hildegard Bechtler’s wonderful design perfectly
captures Mrs. Bryant’s and her elder daughter, Jenny’s country kitchens. James
Macdonald isn’t afraid to let much of the action do the talking, so we are
privy to potato peeling, washing up and cake making often done in complete
silence. This is a real family doing
real every day chores.
The superlative Linda
Bassett plays down-to-earth Mrs. Bryant to perfection. Everything she does
on stage from making supper to filling a tin bath is eminently watchable. Funny, yet tough, you couldn’t wish for a
better actress playing the Bryant matriarch.
The supporting roles, especially Lisa
Ellis as Jenny Bryant are also excellent and, once again, The Donmar stage is the perfect setting
for an intimate, real life play.
