The second play in EUTC’s Freshers Slots run, All Petals Fall, sets out to present the harsh realities of life with schizophrenia. Writer and director Aoife Hallett packs much into this brisk half hour: parental anxieties, teenage romance, and emotional climaxes among them. Yet for all its ambitions, the play remains somewhat restrained in its exploration of the illness’s nuances.
The production begins with an incredibly raw exchange between Sophie’s parents. Her mother (Millie Vorbach) selfishly, yet vulnerably reminisces about an easier life before her daughter’s birth – an awful, near-taboo admission. Yet the tremors that this forbidden intrusive thought might have on the play’s progression are dissipated as this remains largely untackled for the play’s duration.
The play’s lighter moments are almost exclusively upheld by Theodore Casimir-Lambert’s performance as Sophie’s understanding father, whose comical ringtone interrupts earnest moments and endearingly bumbling dancing elicits a hearty chuckle from the audience within such a bleak tale. He earns the audience’s greatest laugh, punctuating Sophie and her mother’s tense exchange (“Rose?”/ “Mum?”) with the delightfully silly and inappropriately-timed addition: “And Dad.”
Anna Lyons’ performance as Sophie – while especially emotive during her monologue nearing the end of the play – is notably elevated by her palpable chemistry with Ge Madeley’s Daisy. Madeley delivers a quietly tragic, standout performance, handling the romantic dimension of their relationship superbly. This is aided by Hallett’s directorial flourish to have Daisy on stage but silent during their pivotal phone call.
While Hallett’s script occasionally leans towards the overt, the play’s most candidly beautiful moments lie in its quietest beats and the honesty of the characters’ flawed interactions. This surfaces in moments when they inadvertently hurt each other – from Daisy’s offhand comparison of Sophie to a ‘corpse’, to Sophie’s unthinking excitement to escape the ward, leaving Daisy behind.
Though neglecting to interrogate the nuances of dealing with schizophrenia – only addressed in the closing cards that present overarching statistics about the condition – it cannot be denied that the production is moving, upheld by heartfelt performances.
Photo by Edie M.S