That Face

By Polly Stenham
Directed by Michael Colucci
Redtwist Theatre
From July 2, 2011 to August 14, 2011

Polly Stenham’s That Face is a drama filled with excitement, guilt, and a hint of danger. You’ll know what I mean when you watch Redtwist Theatre’s latest production. Ever wonder what children experience when their mother is addicted to drugs and alcohol, is completely unstable, and imagines her only son as a Russian soldier? The answer lies in this show.

When Mia (Rae Gray) and Izzy (Lindsay Leopold) decide to bully twelve-year-old girl Alice (Page Weaver) in a London boarding school by forcing drugs into her, their lives change. Mia risks expulsion from school, and Izzy soon begins to have relations with Henry (Nick Vidal), Mia’s brother. But Henry is tied up with someone else at the moment: his own mother. His mother Martha (Jacqueline Grandt), a drug and alcohol addict, is completely obsessed with her son to the point that they actually sleep in the same bed together. And Henry is an adult! She’s not angry that Mia got in trouble; instead, she’s upset that Mia interrupted her time with Henry. The drama escalates as Hugh (Andrew Pond), Henry and Mia’s father, decides to come for a visit after hearing the bad news.

The cast was great, but the outstanding performance came from Jacqueline Grandt, who takes on this very emotional and demented character. Her character convincingly gets drunk and seduces Henry many times. It’s hard to imagine that this was only an act. Andrew Pond also gave a powerful performance. Playing the father and husband, he delivered fully from the beginning by speaking in a loud, commanding voice and not letting the nags from Martha, Mia, and Henry get under his skin. The last scene of the play can be described as “pure enjoyment.”

Go see That Face. Only nineteen years old when she wrote this play, Stenham lets us in on a life that most will never experience. Spectacular performances from the actors and sleek production design make this show worth seeing.