Review of Loft Theatre Company production of The Memory of Water (2010)

Here is a play to provoke a veritable theory-fest. What is author Shelagh Stephenson truly trying to say? Is it a tragedy about trauma resulting from death of a parent or a sharp-edged comedy about three sisters coming to terms with their past?

Is there a deeper, more complex symbolism comparing homeopathic curative powers of water with the ways in which memory exerts influences which can be shaped to order?

With such questions to face, a theatre company cannot afford to be faint-hearted. Gus MacDonald’s production weighs in with suitable bravado, effectively enabling the themes to be addressed at any level. Humour and tragedy can be close bedfellows and in this case laughter is never far away from the sisters who have gathered for their mother’s funeral.

Tragi-comedy is one of theatre’s most challenging formats and it is strikingly achieved by the direction which does not flinch in the face of the writer’s somewhat scattergun approach and lets the theme develop full blast. The performances, with all-round consistency and contrasts, ensure the result.

Julie Godfrey tears into the cynical disenchantment of Mary, the doctor daughter enduring an unrewarding affair with a married lover. It’s a stunning portrayal of mixed and wildly fluctuating emotions. Lucy Randall skilfully applies a zestful yet disturbing hyperactivity to youngest sister Catherine and Mary MacDonald subtly brings out the obsessive coldness of organiser Teresa.

In possibly the most difficult role, Kate Willis makes mother Vi a figure of intensity, yearning to be remembered and providing a significant pointer to her daughters’ traumas.

The production is fine in both acting and direction, with a set that intriguingly hints at the water theme and split relationships. It’s only when the author allows pretentiousness to creep in that things falter. Compensation is quickly to the fore with a key scene in which Mary MacDonald and Rod Wilkinson magnificently trawl through the stormy waters of a disastrous marriage, courtesy of Woody Allen. This is sublime.

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Peter McGarry is an experienced, independent professional theatre critic who has agreed to review Loft Theatre Company productions.

The agreement with the Loft is that Peter is free to express his opinions for good or ill. The Loft Theatre Company has no control whatsoever over the content of these reviews and will never comment publicly on what he writes.