I am on the front row at the National Theatre in the temporary theatre (FKA The Shed), with my mum, about to watch Iphiginia in Splott, a transfer from the Sherman Cymru. Written by Gary Owen, the play is a one handed diatribe against austerity Britain told from the perspective of Effie (played by Sophie Melville), a permanently unemployed and hungover force of nature living in the suburbs of Cardiff. You can find a better description of the show here. Below I am going to share the conversations I shared with my mum from before and after.
Before the show starts
Mum: Ooh, I like that (about the fluorescent tube lighting arranged at the back of the stage to resemble what looks like a broken blind). It's amazing when something simple can be used so effectively. It's like Thomas Heatherwick isn't it. (There will be no question marks, all my mums questions are rhetorical). You take something simple and keep repeating it to create something complex.
Me: Yeah, what's horrible in an office can look quite beautiful on a stage.
Mum: (Some stagehands attach more tube lights to the floor surrounding the front of the stage) Oh no, I should have brought my sunglasses, not that I have any...Its very bright isn't it...Do you think that one on the left is going to blink like that through the whole show?
Me: ...
Mum: I wonder where she is right now.
Me: Maybe behind one of these blocks there.
Mum: Did you listen to Bill Gates on Desert Island Discs?
Me: Yeah, I know! (we both laugh)
Mum: Wasn't he boring/
Me: I know, the songs he chose!
Mum: It was like he was stuck in his twenties.
Me: But half of them were Musicals. That one from Sound of Music. That was awful!
Mum: Everyone says he is interesting because of all of his philanthropic work but what I say about aid is...(I have to admit I shut off a bit here, the wrong and right ways to give to charity is a common subject of my mums, she likes to wax lyrical about it) ..but what we need to do is enable societies to help themselves.
Me: The Polio thing was good though.
Mum: Yes. Yes it was, but that's easy. It's the corruption that needs to be addressed.
Me: Yes, he should sort out corruption. I'm sure that would be a piece of piss.
Mum: Well, of course no one wants to do the hard things that really need doing.
Insert show here.
Mum: Wow, well I don't know about her but I'm exhausted.
Me: I know, she was incredible wasn't she. (It appears I use rhetorical questions too). You just couldn't take your eyes off her. Her mouth is amazing, the way she moved from this grotesque caricature to this calmness/this sort of gentle/
Mum: emotional
Me: Yeah, just being present/and then back again/it was really heartbreaking.
Mum:It was the humanity of her that was so impressive
Me: Such incredible timing too, her rhythm.
Mum: Yes, those fast bits, where, of course I couldn't really understand what she was saying/
Me: No, I'm not sure that matters though/
Mum: No, it was more about the energy wasn't it.
Me: Yeah.
Mum: I mean, I couldn't help thinking how fit she must be, like an athlete, you would have to look after your body and sleep right wouldn't you. I remember you saying that when you were doing that show.
Me: Yeah, its like a marathon doing a show...I was trying to imagine what it would be like to see it in Cardiff. It would be quite a different experience wouldn't it if it was local. Where as here it's a bit more 'other'. It would have been different if you recognised the places she mentioned. The experiences are all the same everywhere though, it's about class.
Mum:. It's poverty, its no different in Adeyfield (in Hemel Hempstead where mum lives). I was thinking 'That's Britain!', not even Syria or Africa. Poverty everywhere. You couldn't help but feel she had been had.
Me: But she was so strong, such a force of nature.
Mum: But in the end she was used. She felt she was saving people, that her sacrifice meant something but it didn't did it. Her not taking that money, wouldn't mean that anyone else got it. (She sues the NHS after she loses her premature baby but a midwife convinces her not to take the money) I mean that was the analogy wasn't it with Iphigenia, you know the story don't you/
Me: Yes/
Mum: She was sacrificed to the Gods so that her father could win the war
Me: Needlessly.
Mum: Exactly, because of course there is no God.
Me: But don't you think she won because of that strength and resilience that she still has despite everything?
Mum: What would she have done with the money, when everyone else around her still had none. What she did find is people, strength in her community, her nan.
Me: And Kev.
Mum: Exactly, all the critics were talking about the impact of the ending, this big reveal, this big shock.
Me: I didn't like the ending, it just sounded like the playwright talking.
Mum: Exactly, it's her who is interesting, how she sees the world, not the political bits.
Exeunt in opposite directions.
Before the show starts
Mum: Ooh, I like that (about the fluorescent tube lighting arranged at the back of the stage to resemble what looks like a broken blind). It's amazing when something simple can be used so effectively. It's like Thomas Heatherwick isn't it. (There will be no question marks, all my mums questions are rhetorical). You take something simple and keep repeating it to create something complex.
Me: Yeah, what's horrible in an office can look quite beautiful on a stage.
Mum: (Some stagehands attach more tube lights to the floor surrounding the front of the stage) Oh no, I should have brought my sunglasses, not that I have any...Its very bright isn't it...Do you think that one on the left is going to blink like that through the whole show?
Me: ...
Mum: I wonder where she is right now.
Me: Maybe behind one of these blocks there.
Mum: Did you listen to Bill Gates on Desert Island Discs?
Me: Yeah, I know! (we both laugh)
Mum: Wasn't he boring/
Me: I know, the songs he chose!
Mum: It was like he was stuck in his twenties.
Me: But half of them were Musicals. That one from Sound of Music. That was awful!
Mum: Everyone says he is interesting because of all of his philanthropic work but what I say about aid is...(I have to admit I shut off a bit here, the wrong and right ways to give to charity is a common subject of my mums, she likes to wax lyrical about it) ..but what we need to do is enable societies to help themselves.
Me: The Polio thing was good though.
Mum: Yes. Yes it was, but that's easy. It's the corruption that needs to be addressed.
Me: Yes, he should sort out corruption. I'm sure that would be a piece of piss.
Mum: Well, of course no one wants to do the hard things that really need doing.
Insert show here.
Mum: Wow, well I don't know about her but I'm exhausted.
Me: I know, she was incredible wasn't she. (It appears I use rhetorical questions too). You just couldn't take your eyes off her. Her mouth is amazing, the way she moved from this grotesque caricature to this calmness/this sort of gentle/
Mum: emotional
Me: Yeah, just being present/and then back again/it was really heartbreaking.
Mum:It was the humanity of her that was so impressive
Me: Such incredible timing too, her rhythm.
Mum: Yes, those fast bits, where, of course I couldn't really understand what she was saying/
Me: No, I'm not sure that matters though/
Mum: No, it was more about the energy wasn't it.
Me: Yeah.
Mum: I mean, I couldn't help thinking how fit she must be, like an athlete, you would have to look after your body and sleep right wouldn't you. I remember you saying that when you were doing that show.
Me: Yeah, its like a marathon doing a show...I was trying to imagine what it would be like to see it in Cardiff. It would be quite a different experience wouldn't it if it was local. Where as here it's a bit more 'other'. It would have been different if you recognised the places she mentioned. The experiences are all the same everywhere though, it's about class.
Mum:. It's poverty, its no different in Adeyfield (in Hemel Hempstead where mum lives). I was thinking 'That's Britain!', not even Syria or Africa. Poverty everywhere. You couldn't help but feel she had been had.
Me: But she was so strong, such a force of nature.
Mum: But in the end she was used. She felt she was saving people, that her sacrifice meant something but it didn't did it. Her not taking that money, wouldn't mean that anyone else got it. (She sues the NHS after she loses her premature baby but a midwife convinces her not to take the money) I mean that was the analogy wasn't it with Iphigenia, you know the story don't you/
Me: Yes/
Mum: She was sacrificed to the Gods so that her father could win the war
Me: Needlessly.
Mum: Exactly, because of course there is no God.
Me: But don't you think she won because of that strength and resilience that she still has despite everything?
Mum: What would she have done with the money, when everyone else around her still had none. What she did find is people, strength in her community, her nan.
Me: And Kev.
Mum: Exactly, all the critics were talking about the impact of the ending, this big reveal, this big shock.
Me: I didn't like the ending, it just sounded like the playwright talking.
Mum: Exactly, it's her who is interesting, how she sees the world, not the political bits.
Exeunt in opposite directions.
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