Family and friendship and a love that will conquer all
When I saw the title of Lois Tallulah’s play I knew I would relate to it, writes Michael Holland.
In The Shadow of Her Majesty depicts life on this side of the Pentonville Prison wall that overshadows the home of an extended family consisting of an alcoholic mum – Doreen, her three daughters – Riley, Gemma and Jorja, whose father is in jail, and Riley’s unseen toddler, Finley, whose father is also banged up.
Their existence, built around who is in prison and who is out, is just normal life for some sectors of society because the Criminal Justice system is like cancer, if we haven’t experienced it ourselves ourselves we certainly know someone who has because it does not recognise class or colour.
And their home is no different from the homes we know. Weetabix, slippers, trainers, framed family photos, toys and kids’ drawings on the fridge are the mise en scène in this household where you hear half-truths and home truths, and who shouts the loudest usually wins the argument, but where, despite all the problems, love always wins.
First on stage is the writer, who also co-directs with Isla Jackson Ritchie. She is Riley and you do not want to mess with her. Her Arsenal shirt would usually elicit a volley of abuse from me, but on her back it made me cower in fear. I felt more at home when Gemma came on sporting a vintage Spurs shirt from the days when they actually won trophies. The sisters sat watching their teams play and it wasn’t long before Spurs were 2-0 down and I was pleased to see mum Doreen and friend Trish turn up drunk to divert attention away from the match.
Jorja appears with the face of an angel and waits eagerly for her dad to make his regular call from the jail across the road. It doesn’t come but she is distracted by a text that makes her smile and her two half-sisters wonder. You know that will not end well. Nor angelic.
As in contemporary life, their world revolves around the phone. Here it is a harbinger of doom and gloom, each ring brings a new drama or takes an existing one up a level. Someone has been nicked, someone violent from their past looks like getting released, a young girl is groomed by an adult… Revelations of historical abuse emerge in the shouting bouts that help us piece together the reason their lives are like this now.
But while they deal with each divisive calamity as a family united they are also preparing for a Christmas where watching the bad news in Eastenders is as much a seasonal tradition as the Queen’s Speech.
In The Shadow of Her Majesty has no real beginning or end but is a slice of life cut out of reality. It actually ends with an Eastenders’ ‘Doof Doof!’ that leaves us on tenterhooks wondering what this new problem is but knowing that these women will come together to sort it.
The cast have mainly learnt their craft in three of my favourite places of learning: East 15 Acting School, Mountview and the wonderful Clean Break; places that you need a bit of grit to actually apply to go to, but you will graduate with more than you need to hold your own in such an unstable industry.
Lois Tallulah has written a script that shows woman are stronger than men, that the London accent is not there for comedic value, and that people need to look beyond the stereotype to see the real person. In The Shadow of Her Majesty gives a voice to an under-represented portion of society that does not put us down but elevates us to a place of dignity and fortitude, which, in my book, makes it as worthy as any play where you won’t hear the protagonists calling each other Bruv or Fam, and any ‘Innit, though’ will be a prelude to an ‘Am I bovvered?’ as a way of putting a whole class down.
Lois Tallulah(Riley), Nancy Brabin-Platt(Gemma), Ella Harding (Jorja), Nadia Lamin(Jamila), Jennifer Joseph (Trish) and Alice Selwyn (Doreen) work beautifully together to create family and friendship and a love that will conquer all adversity that comes knocking.
Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, 410 Brockley Road, London, SE4 2DH until 16th November. 7.30pm.
Box office: www.brockleyjack.co.uk or 0333 666 3366 (£1.80 fee for phone bookings only)
Tickets: £17, £15 conc., 15+.
