Writer: David Storey
Director: Elizabeth Elstub
Reviewer: Christine Stanton
“Needlessly Repetitive“
1.5 / 5
It’s been eighteen years since sisters Adrianne and Carol have seen each other, both grown up and living their lives in separate ends of the country, but Adrianne wants to visit and catch up after all these years – leading to some unexpected revelations for both.
Adrianne (Joanne Arber) is a posh Southerner, looking down her nose at the various people in Carol’s (Laura Kaye) life, despite their mostly warm welcome. Carol isn’t prepared for Adrianne’s unexpected visit, arriving a day earlier than planned, but nevertheless excited to show off her sister to her friends, and hear about her life. Turns out Adrianne and her husband have broken up, and despite a healthy bank balance, has had a tough time recently after a marital issues and a struggling career in the arts. Carol does her best to hide the fact she is running a business from her house with her husband – but the revolving door of guests and workers quickly gives the game away very early on, not that Adrianne is too perturbed by the news. It’s a revealing reunion from both sides with various stories and secrets unraveling, but can they be there for each other when it’s really needed?
David Storey’s ‘Sisters’ was first presented in 1978 and is definitely a product of its time with some of the outdated stereotypes and character traits. Although it’s a commendable effort from the eight-person cast, it’s frustratingly messy, repetitive, disjointed and largely empty of anything of real interest. In classic kitchen sink drama style, it’s mainly a window into the working class – a genre that thrives with interesting characters and intriguing situations. The issue here is that none of the characters are very interesting and you learn very little about them of merit considering the 2-hour runtime. The first act especially, is mostly redundant – a lengthy, repetitive 70 minutes of arrivals, departures and copious “do you want a drink love?”.
Adrianne introduces herself as Carol’s sister individually to Mrs Donaldson (Sarah Dorsett), Carol’s husband Tom (Christopher Tomkins), Carol’s friend Beryl (Catherine Joyce) and Joanna (Madelyn Morgan), and guests Terry (Oliver Lyndon) and Crawford (Stephen Guy). The mostly one-to-one conversations are very similar, straightforward pleasantries and devoid of anything very interesting, and after a while of the same you can’t help but desperately cry out for something different to break up the monotony. The second act is better – with the characters personalities already established, the writing can finally divulge some of the big revelations that the sisters have hidden from each other, but it’s still quite a stumble to the final scenes and often more conviction is needed for the ‘shock factor’ or tension to land better. There is a disappointing lack of synergy between the cast, possibly due to the over-explaining script, which leaves the overall performance feeling disjointed and lacking in flow.
Molly Agar’s set is the redeeming feature of the show – instantly recognisable for the time period and brilliantly eye-catching. The typical sitting room location allows for easy movement for the cast, and a recognisable focal point for the story to unfold. There are some pivotal themes and plot points such as domestic violence, miscarriages, mental health and family past – that are barely explored, which feels like a missed opportunity to extract some poignant and meaningful conversations between the characters.
Runs until 26th April 2025
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