Abigail is an up-and-coming playwright who has been commissioned to write a new play for this theatre company. She is anxious about the reception of her newest submission: Gay Termites in Space. Although the theatre professional, Darren, assures her that her play is good... but not quite right, he urges her to write about what she knows; familiar and sound advice for all writers.
What she knows, following the recent death of her mother, is that she is torn between ceremoniously honouring the wishes of her mother on the emotional side and the exorbitant costs of the funeral on a pragmatic side. She discusses the option with her somewhat-less-than-helpful brother.
Everyone thinks writing a play on this theme is a good idea. Abigail is not so sure. She feels trapped by the need for the playwriting fee in order to pay for the ever-mounting costs: burial plot, brass handles and all. So, with the help of the theatre manager, and her mother (remembered), and the actress who has been cast to play her mother, she embarks on this new play.
My Mother’s Funeral by Kelly Jones is sharp and very funny and shines a light on every corner of Abigail’s adventure. Balancing the social pressures of this very delicate subject is a familiar dilemma for everyone trying to make logical decisions at a vulnerable time.
Nicole Sawyerr is a high-energy and engaging Abigail. Samuel Armfield encourages Abigail as her theatrical mentor, professorial without being dictatorial, and disarms her as her brother. It is fun to watch him effortlessly move from mentor to brother. Debra Baker balances Abigail’s mother and an actress who has been cast to play the mother and a third character familiar to many actresses, masterfully playing the actor playing the character. It is great fun watching all of cast slip from character to character. With the careful direction of Charlotte Bennett, the cast keeps moving around this theatre-in-the-round; their timing is flawless and breathless.
Paines Plough has garnered a reputation for well-crafted and poignant scripts that tackle a wide variety of sociological and emotional subjects, and finding solid directors who make best use of the space and actors who play well together.