"Some days she’s her old self and I don’t know if I’m imagining it," is the poignant reflection by Flo of long-time partner Es, who has early-stage dementia.
Jennifer Lunn’s warm-hearted play is special; it celebrates an ageing, interracial lesbian couple’s enduring love, and pinpoints the pressures they continue to face as they choose to keep their love a family secret.
Susie Mckenna’s direction allows the writing to breathe, drawing out the intimacies and frustrations between these two former Greenham Common activists. Due value is placed on their trailblazing idealism in this nuanced production that never drifts into shorthand about the condition of dementia.
Libby Watson’s kitchen-sink set brings their present-day Cardiff home to life: a shelf lined with Lonely Planet books, ethnic throws, a smattering of global ornaments and unfussy, dated decor.
The play opens with Flo hurrying home, bearing a modest birthday cake for Es who's turning 71. Details surface about their predicament: short-term memory slips and apologies from Es, reassurances and gentle probing from Flo, especially whether Es has received a birthday card from her estranged son, Peter.
But Flo is under strain, forgetting to buy food staples and leaving Es unwatched when she, by necessity, leaves the house. So when single mother, Polish carer Beata (Adrianna Pavlovska – exceptional) turns up with her mixed race, eight-year old daughter Kasia (Chioma Nduka on press night), Flo feels threatened, especially given that Peter employed her. Then when Peter’s wife (Michelle McTernan – fantastically shrewish) arrives, battle lines are drawn.
What develops is fresh and touching. Connections made between these intergenerational women are hearteningly credible. Beata and Catherine certainly have their own revelations to offload but Lunn’s writing is too humane to be in danger of straying near melodrama.
Liz Crowther conveys Es’ fierce intelligence and mood swings with impressive skill. Doreene Blackstock gives a touching performance as Flo, rejected by her family but still fighting for justice, now to keep hold of her partner.
Sparely used projections of Es and Flo’s Greenham Common days as anti-Nuclear activists are an inspiring touch. There is some laboured plotting around power of attorney papers, but overall, a production to cherish.
Es & Flo runs at Kiln Theatre, Kilburn until June 24.
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