Gipton Working Men’s Club, Leeds – Tuesday 17 September 2019
Reviewed By Dawn Smallwood
5*****
Red Ladder Theatre invariably connects to what matters for all walks of life including communities across many town and cities especially hosting performances at non-theatre spaces. Gipton, an East Leeds neighbourhood, is no exception and this company brings their latest production The Parting Glass, written by Chris O’Connor and following on from The Life and Soul, at the Working Men Club which is intimately hosted and draws a sell out audience.
The Parting Glass explores masculinity and mental health, issues which are evidently big concerns in all communities and addresses them with dialogue and also shares what support is available. Masculinity and mental health have never gone hand in hand and hence the widespread stigma and tragic consequences that follow including depression and cases of suicide. This play voices about everyone having mental health, good and not so good, and that everyone can either experience.
Before The Parting Glass, Tony Spirett who is writer/performance is invited to the stage and performs an excellent The Girl Across The Street. This monologue has comedic, consequential and reflective narrative. This links to his life revolving around dancing at the legendary Northern Soul every Saturday night at the Wigan Casino and his life after he meets Julie on the street. He draws on his eventual relationships with the past and present and realises what really matters.
After a very brief interval The Parting Glass begins and stars Jim (Tom Swift) and Sara (Alyce Liburd), two locals, who share their life journeys. They appear at first “normal” and “uneventful” and their mutual longing to be happy. Jim is gregarious and his past times are being with his friends at the pub, betting football scores and being at the football matches supporting Leeds United. It seems that the football ground is the only place where Jim can truly express himself. Sara on the other hand is an explorer physically and figuratively. She is able to sum up imaginatively, picturesquely and comically the state of society especially with social media and its dis-connective impact particularly among children whose lives revolve round the “Black Mirror” (smart phones). Poignantly, Jim also shares how a “cloud” lingers over him, feeling trapped mentally and having a sense of not belonging, and this intensifies even more over time. There seems to be some happiness and hope, temporary unknown at the time, when both Jim and Sara meet and begin dating. However Sara suspects that things are not alright with Jim which is evident with his excessive drinking and the amount of time spent on social media. Besides he couldn’t able to share with her how he really felt. Jim’s mental and emotional plight leads to fateful consequences which changed both the couple’s lives and more so tragically with Jim’s at the time of his 30th Birthday.
It is a very powerful and moving play, under the direction of Rod Dixon, with thought provoking topical content packed in short period of time. It certainly and strongly portrays the issues of mental health in men which sadly still draws stigma and discrimination in today’s society. Both Swift and Liburb emotively portray well the characters particularly their humorous sides and also their vulnerable ones. It is heartening to see Red Ladder Theatre Company give such issues a voice to be heard by many from this well done production. This production is tragic however reflection and impetus can come out of which can aspire and inspire many to creatively and innovatively support men in need as well as everyone.
Touring until October 2019