Low Down
Samantha sits on a floor covered in brown paper, with half-finished designs for clothes. Three mannequins are at her back, and they have names. Samantha is a commentator on life, but most of all on her own guilt. Samantha is a mistress of the husband of her best friend. Samantha is waiting for the phone to ring...
Review
As she sorts through begging letters and writes out cheques, Samantha Milner ponders on a guilt that is becoming unbearable. She is a woman undergoing a crisis of self-belief. And she's "talking to the dummies again".
Guy Masterson has staged this very simply, and much of the light and shade is left to the charismatic voice and mannerisms of the one performer, Martha Lott, as Samantha, designer, hopelessly in love with a married man.
Well, I say "one performer". In Wesker's witty and well observed piece on the nature of duplicity and guilt, there are really "four" characters - three are named by Samantha, addressed by her often, and we hear, through her, what they are saying to her. They are the "dummies". The success of this piece relies on these three characters being clearly defined, and here this performance doesn't succeed as well as it should. There's a lack of clarity to the three, as Sam engages in banther with all three. Sharper direction of this piece (particularly in relation to the mannequins) will give the narrative needed extra impact and function.
Fleeing into the writing of cheques for charities, spread out before her are countless begging letters; this aspect works well comically and cuttingly, as the chosen charities (partially) assuage the guilt of Sam.
I also found an ambiguity in the nature of the fourth wall in this piece. In Masterton's "Follow Me", we, the audience, have a clear role, which serves the drama very well. In The Mistress, the role of the audience is not clear. We are addressed (as her conscience?), and, at one point, she sits on the lap of an audience member. Yet, the scene is set in a room, in a context that we are not part of. So, we don't really know where we stand (or sit) in this piece, and I don't think that is intentional. Guy Masterson sets such a consistently high standard, I am sure some of this will be addressed as the run develops.
So, what raises this to a four-star show beyond a less satisfying three? It is of course, the skilled and energised, charisma of Martha Lott. She holds out attention for every second. Her performance creates the pathos needed to carry the piece.
And finally, the excellent writing, full of humour and sadness, one-liners and monologue lift this into the category of a play well worth seeing.
Reviewed by PL 10th August 2007
