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Shadows in Bloom Venue 1 – MTC Backstage at the Mainstage
Shadows in Bloom, a one-woman play written and performed by Gemma Wilcox, tells the story of the relationship
between Sandra who, having just turned 30, feels her biological clock is
ticking and wants to settle down and raise a family with Pete, a single dad
who seems more than a little hesitant to do so. As story lines go, this
one is fairly unremarkable. Also, the characters are pretty
much ordinary people; similarly, they too are not overly
remarkable. The interest in this piece lays not so much in the story as
in the telling of it. Wilcox not only plays the parts of both Sandra and
Pete, but also a host of secondary characters, including (amusingly) lobsters
and house plants. While other actors have played multiple characters in
Fringe shows before, few have done so as smoothly as Wilcox does in this
piece. Using subtle changes in voice and posture, she is able to bring
all of these characters to life, and switch seamlessly between them.
While this is fascinating to watch, it is not mere juggling. Taken
together, the multiple characters blend together to form a rich tapestry
which serves to illuminate Sandra's psyche. Also worthy of note are the
scenes, heralded by a change in lighting, in which Wilcox switches
from portraying the surface of Sandra's life, to her underlying
emotions, depicted through a less verbal and more physically
intense style of acting. Also her occasional forays into the audience are
effective in providing some comic relief, preventing the tone of the
piece from becoming too sombre. There were a few minor questions I had about this
piece. While the play succeeds brilliantly in developing Sandra's
character, Pete's character seems far less developed. Having said
that I'm not sure whether developing his character more would improve the
play or not. Also the play spends a lot of time developing a
gardening motif. While this was interesting to watch, I couldn't quite
grasp what bearing it had on the rest of the story. Apart from these
small points, Wilcox deserves credit for an original and well crafted play. - Terry Moor UMFM |
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