Park Theatre, London – until 20 September 2025
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
Nicole (Natasha Cottriall) has to face adult life suddenly when her mum dies suddenly. It’s 2010 and, flying back from a hen do in Kavos, the nineteen-year-old has to deal with funeral arrangements and her mother’s estate.
As she sits alone in the family home, treasured memories are triggered and dealt with by listening to her mum’s collection of Northern Soul records. Describing how her parents met through their love for Northern Soul, Nicole needs time before she texts her father about the loss. Brought up by a single mum, as one of the few mixed-race people in Wigan Nicole is used to being asked where she’s from from but knows nothing of her Jamaican heritage. With the support of her loud and confident best friend, Sally, and her slightly judgemental but well-meaning gran, Nicole begins to deal with the aftermath of death. Left a BMW and a sandwich shop, Nicole has to decide what to do with both. Then there is the organisation of the funeral. Devout Catholic Gran is on the case, along with her pet priest. Nicole’s doubt in the existence of god and her veganism obviously confuse Gran, but she works through this to both ensure a funeral that her daughter would have approved of.
Cottriall has created a wonderfully nuanced teenager thrust into adult responsibilities with no clue what to do. Her characterisation of a stalwart Northern grandmother is hilariously on point and the relationship between the pair is sketched subtly and lovingly. Director Hannah Tyrell-Pinder allows the silences to breathe and the grief and desolation to creep in before Nicole pulls herself together to get on with tasks. Alex Marker’s eye-catching and atmospheric design evokes homeliness and nostalgia as stacks of retro speakers reveal hidden cabinets and Richard Williamson’s lighting and Chris James’s sound design carry Nicole away to happier times. The music is glorious, setting the audience’s toes tapping and some singing along.
Cottriall approaches bereavement with a light touch that captures the hopelessness and emptiness of loss alongside the struggle to cope with everyday life and responsibilities. The hour is punctuated by moments of mundanity, devastation and joy as Nicole learns to cope, but Cottriall’s gorgeously raw acting in the final scene leaves the audience in no doubt that this will be a tough struggle for the heartbroken young woman.
An emotional, thoughtful and funny examination of grief and belonging, this has lots of potential.