Jackie Bryans enjoys a delightful escape to rural Cornwall in a play that pulls at the heartstrings
Amy Skillman
For Windsor’s regular theatre-goers a pattern might be emerging this year implying that anyone living near the sea is in danger of finding half drowned bodies on their beaches. We first encountered this in Moira Buffini’s marvellous Gabriel in April and now another man is discovered, this time off the Cornish coast in what forms the basis of Ladies in Lavender’s endearing story. Given the current plight of refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean, this theme does not seem such an improbable scenario and it is rather reassuring that both plays treat the strangers washed-up on their beaches with tenderness and kindness.
Ladies in Lavender is the final week of this year’s Windsor Repertory Festival, a tradition at the Theatre Royal dating back to 1938 that has helped hone the skills of many a young actor. I was disappointed that this year the festival had been reduced from last year’s six weeks to just three; but hopefully that might change next year to mark the festival’s 80th anniversary.
Adapted from Charles Dance’s screenplay which was based on a short story by William J Locke, the action centres around two spinster sisters living in a small Cornish village. The play is set in the 1930s, a period still mourning the young men lost in the first World War and there evidently remains some distrust of the Germans, especially with a certain Mr Hitler whose star is in its ascendance. The sisters, Janet (Erin Geraghty) and Ursula (Hilary Harwood) have little in their lives and therefore the discovery of a young man, Andrea Marowski (John Askew) on the beach following a storm, is a wonderful diversion.
Amy Skillman
They quickly establish that whilst their common language is German, Andrea is actually Polish and they tenderly nurse him and teach him English as he recovers from a nasty injury to his leg. They discover that Andrea is a talented violinist, but when the opportunity arises to further his career, the ladies are understandably reticent to let go of their protégé who has brought some meaning to their lives. At this point the play touches on the darker side of human nature: the local doctor who has loaned Andrea his violin asks for it to be returned when his jealousy is aroused after seeing the young man talking effortlessly with the young Russian artist whom the doctor has been pursuing all summer.
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Ursula, who has been starved her whole life of experiencing either the passion of a lover or the maternal instincts of motherhood feels a bond with Andrea and wants to hold on to this for as long as possible. Whilst her more sensible sister, Janet, enjoys being able to look after the young man, as presumably she would have done if her ‘intended’ had returned from the war and she empathises with her sister’s desire to hold on to Andrea. Meanwhile Dorcas, the down to earth housekeeper, brings light hearted relief when needed.
There is a happy ending, as Andrea’s talent is discovered and whilst he leaves Cornwall to achieve fame and fortune he never forgets his Ladies in Lavender, who bask in his success in the comfort of their home, listening to his concerts via their precious gramophone.
I never saw the film version of this play, which no doubt makes it easier to review as I came to it afresh. The staging was cleverly crafted into four separate areas, denoting Andrea’s bedroom, the ladies living room, their cottage’s garden and beach, and the actors should be applauded for managing to contain their movements within the respective sections. As the first night in the final week of rep theatre there were inevitably a few tiny glitches, but overall it was a very pleasant evening and the audience seemed very much to enjoy the play.
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