Haunted by grief, Franky's family quietly unravel around her, and buried secrets leak through cracks in every room.
So reads the preview text for Kit Withington's Heart Wall. A play which promises an exploration of family and community dealing with grief, but proves to be much more than that - funny, supremely well written and acted, and deeply poignant.
Set in a town in the North-West of England, the majority of the play takes place in The Sun Inn, a pub affectionately known as Sunny's. As we entered the theatre space, an entertaining pre-show invited audience members (voluntarily, I should add - you won't be picked on!) to sing karaoke on Hazel Low's excellently detailed set. Featuring songs such as Robbie Williams' Angels and S Club Seven's Reach, it created a jovial atmosphere before the performance began.
Once the play begins in earnest, the story centres on 23-year-old Franky Carver (a magnificent Rowan Robinson), returning to her hometown for the first time in a year after moving to London with her boyfriend. As the narrative unfolds, we are gradually introduced to her complex family dynamics. The first half of this five-hander plays largely as a comedy, with Withington's quick-fire, naturalistic dialogue brilliantly capturing the quirks and challenges of life in a close-knit community.
But beneath the humour, something isn't quite right. Franky's Dad, Dez, has taken to wandering the streets at night while attempting a questionable “self-care” routine. Her Mum, Linda, is having an affair and her friends Charl and Val (who runs Sunny's) are navigating their own personal struggles.
Director Katie Greenall makes sure that throughout the laughter, there is also an underlying sense that the play is building toward something darker and as the evening progresses, the tone certainly shifts, growing more serious and emotionally charged, until tensions finally snap and long-buried truths come to light.
While all the characters have their emotional arcs, perhaps the most affecting is Dez's. With so much bottled up inside, Deka Walmsley delivers a powerful and deeply moving performance. The rest of the cast are equally strong - Sophie Stanton, Olivia Forrest (who is given some of the play's funniest lines) and Aaron Anthony all impress, alongside the previously mentioned Rowan Robinson, who leads the play superbly.
The play's single act runs at approximately 1 hour 40 minutes, although with the extended pre-show karaoke, the total time in the theatre is closer to two hours - so plan accordingly! Only towards the very end does it feel slightly stretched, up until then, the pacing is excellent.
Interestingly, the final scene as written in the script we were given has clearly been cut during rehearsal, making the closing scene and tableau between Franky and her dad all the more powerful.
Described as bittersweet, Heart Wall fully earns that label. This tragi-comedy is both moving and entertaining, and well worth seeing.
It runs until 16 May.
Review: Jack Shaw Photos: Harry Elletson