The Old Red Lion Theatre 28 June – 16 July. Reviewed by Claire Roderick
It’s a great time to be Welsh right now, and as part of the London Taffia, watching Ugly Lovely was like popping back home for the evening – it’s just lovely to hear people talk tidy.
Ffion Jones’ debut play about Swansea girl Shell (played by Jones) and her longing for an escape from her car crash of a life is loud, lairy, and unashamedly Welsh. The girls are instantly recognisable to anyone who’s walked down Wind Street in Swansea or St Mary Street in Cardiff (am I allowed to use the C word in a piece about Swansea?) and Jones has done a fine job in giving both characters depth, showing the emotional, darker side which explains their choices. Jones never mocks them, or Swansea, instead portraying with great empathy the different attitudes and aspirations of people stuck in unhappy lives.
The fractured state of Shell’s relationships with her boyfriend and her mother are explored with gut wrenching honesty through monologues with her dead nan, Wendy. Wendy looms large in the story, even though she’s simply an urn full of ashes (which Shell carries around in her handbag – providing some of the biggest laughs in the play).
Jones manages to keep the audience’s sympathy even when Shell is being vile and stupid – constantly revisiting melancholy lines from her heart to hearts with Wendy, and never allowing the smiles and laughs to appear completely genuine, more like forced hysteria.
As Shell gets more and more self-destructive, she hooks up with Robyn (Oliver Morgan-Thomas – so convincing as the bullying little git that I almost cheered when he got his come-uppance). Drunken and drug-fuelled nights out with Tash (Sophie Hughes – hysterical and fearless), Shell’s hopeless but loveable school friend are her only escape from her empty house as she dreams of leaving. These nights are full of shrieking, cheap wine and collapsing on toilet floors – well, Swansea was in the running for City of Culture.
Jones’ dialogue is sharp and snappy, and small events are escalated into huge dramas by the bored and unhappy characters – just like in real life. Lizzy Leach’s costume design (spot on) and set are authentic and atmospheric – walking into the theatre felt like walking into any shabby seaside caff in South Wales. I loved the seagulls calling, but the music between scenes did become slightly migraine inducing (but that may just be my age).
Tackling some dark issues, but full of hope and lots of filthy laughs, Ugly Lovely is a cracking debut from Ffion Jones, and well worth a look.