A Life in a Loft
In Marcella’s Minute To Midnight the postman didn’t just knock twice but kept coming back until Marcella realised she had ordered far too many of the item that she never needed in the first place, writes Michael Holland.
Choosing not to return them – revealing her stupidity to the online seller – and in a need to hide them from her family for the same reason, she decided to put them in the loft, a part of the house she should only go up to when there is a family member around to ensure her safety.
After a lot of tentative steps up the ladder and knocking her head several times, Marcella manages to drag the heavy bag to the roof space where she comes face to face with her whole life parading before her in costumes on a clothes rack, each one a memory that she relives.
Many are outfits she wore on stage in her acting career; an early Joan of Arc tabard evokes a speech from the play, but the twinkle in Marcella’s eye comes from letting us know that the costume still fits, which opens up the question: ‘How does she know?’
There are loving memories of her father, glittery dresses she danced in… An empty coat hanger depicts the missing item from a successful point in the acting life – a beautiful pea green coat that was relined for warmth by a seamstress aunt. A coat that held a thousand stories in its pockets but was now just a hanger on a rack.
In boxes are the programmes of productions Marcella acted in, publicity photos that showed a lifetime of putting herself out there for work.
But while Marcella weaves us through the ups and downs and the tears and laughter in her life there is always the spectre of an oppressive mother, always behind her whispering wicked words in her ear, always telling Marcella how she has failed in her work and in her marriage and how she has never been a good daughter.
The tale of the green coat is truly sad and brings Marcella to the point where she asks: ‘Is it now time to declutter?’
You’ve got three days to find out.
Written and performed perfectly by Mary Lincoln who brings to life drama teachers, students, friends and, of course, her mother, while she treads carefully around her life laid out in the loft.
Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, 410 Brockley Road, London, SE4 2DH until 28 September.
Box office: www.brockleyjack.co.uk or 0333 666 3366 (£1.80 fee for phone bookings only)
Time: 7.30pm.
Tickets: £16, £14 conc., 14+.
Running time: 65 minutes, with no interval
