Having only opened in May 2013, The Park Theatre is a relatively new space, however, since it opened it has had 3 West End and 2 National Theatre transfers as well as 10 national tours, so sets a high precedent for the shows that follow. Expertly written by Neil Anthony Docking, THE REVLON GIRL is a powerful and poignant story, with extreme highs as well as extreme lows this play takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions that the title never could have foretold.Set 8 months after the Aberfan disaster, The Revlon Girl tells a very human story of a group of mothers who came together as a support network for each other in the aftermath. The disaster happened in 1966, where, in the small Welsh mining village of Aberfan, an estimated150,000 tonnes of colliery waste slipped suddenly and unexpectedly from the mountain above. The waste took out a farmhouse, two rows of houses, eventually making its way to the local primary school killing a total of 144 people; 116 of them children. We meet bereaved mothers Sian (Charlotte Gray), Marilyn (Michelle McTernan), Rona (Bethan Thomas) and Jean (Zoë Harrison) at one of their weekly meetings offering them respite from the reality they face in the outside world. At this meeting, they have secretly arranged for a Revlon girl (Antonia Kinlay) to come and give them beauty tips to make them feel better about themselves, despite feeling guilty for doing so.
As the lights fade, we are transported back to that day with the sound of children playing, the school bell ringing, the waste slipping and then nothing. There is no sound more harrowing & the audience are instantly invested in this story. Helping Revlon set up, we meet Sian, an upbeat, endearing woman who makes Revlon feel at ease by talking about everything including her son, who, Revlon comments ‘was one of the lucky ones’, ‘No he died’ replied Sian lightly. This is the harsh reality of this story, in such a small town most people will have had someone perish in the disaster.
This is a truly ensemble piece where each character has their own very different story to tell. Initially we meet the ladies, who, on the surface are so brave yet it is clear how frightened they are to show grief, and as their stories unravel we see just how close they are to crumbling. This is very relevant in today's society where it seems every day the news brings us another tragedy, from Grenfell, to Manchester and now the Parsons Green attack. We, like these woman have to deal with these events the only way we know how. But as Sian says ‘no-one can be that tough all the time, and why should they be?’ we all have a breaking point. The raw emotion shown by these actresses when they reach their breaking point is perfectly placed and their ability to be both hilarious and heart breaking in equal measure is what make the piece so remarkable.
The Park 90 is a black box theatre where designer Eleri Lloyd had wonderfully captured the sense of the small hidden space these woman met in week after week to provide some kind of solace. The stage was bare save a black iron outline of a room and a single bulb hanging from the ceiling highlighting that the importance here was firmly on the stories of these women. Along with Dan Travers, Lloyd created a constant drip from the ceiling, which remained throughout the play. This served as a constant reminder, always there, just as that day is and will always be to these mothers.
The final image is of Sian finally having her makeup done whilst all the other women watch on, it may only be makeup but in times like these, even the smallest things can make us feel better. As the lights fade on this image the sound of The City Chamber Choir fills the auditorium, a fitting end, as if paying our respects to the lives that were lost. After the curtain call, the women clean up and leave, and if there is one thing to take from this play it’s that in spite of everything, life goes on. And that’s the beauty and the curse of it, because what else can we do but carry on?
Ramona and Jim meet as teenagers in the Scottish Highlands. He's local, she's on a field trip from Englandshire. They are quirky, nerdy, articulate (in that weirdly teenage kinda way) and physically awkward (again, in that weirdly teenage kinda way)! Also, their hormones are clearly running riot, for it soon becomes apparent that they are immensely attracted to each other.