REVIEW: Our Lady of Blundellsands, Liverpool Everyman
“WELCOME to a family more messed up than your own,” says the Everyman on the back of the playtext programme of Our Lady of Blundellsands, the first in-house production for a year since 2019’s blistering Sweeney Todd - and one that has clearly taken great care to be the perfect fit.
A powerhouse ensemble of well-known names and local talent, plus a high-profile homecoming for playwright Jonathan Harvey and the return of Sweeney director Nick Bagnall, all helps to weave a richly textured tragicomedy that really hits the spot.
Effervescent Sylvie (Josie Lawrence) lives with sensible older sister Garnet (a pitch-perfect Annette Badland) in a time-warp house on the coast. As the family gather for Garnet’s 65th birthday, truths that nobody wants to face are about to come bubbling to the surface.
In that regard, Our Lady of Blundellsands is hardly breaking new dramatic ground. But it’s Harvey’s brilliant human touch and ear for dialogue, together with some superb performances, that elevate the piece. Lawrence’s Sylvie brings many shades of Blanche DuBois to Blundellsands; a Sefton Streetcar all her own. Her co-dependent relationship with self-sacrificing sister Garnet harks of Lennie and George in Of Mice and Men. The soundtrack of David Soul and Boney-M is evocative of an era, but hardly hip; there’s lots of wackiness in this play, but it is affectionately knowing, with the warmth that has made Harvey’s work on Coronation Street so appealing over the years.
The party is completed with the arrival of Sylvie’s oldest son Mickey Joe and his partner Frankie, now based in Brighton, and younger son Lee Lee (Nathan McMullen) and his comically Scouse bird Alyssa (Gemma Broderick).
As Mickey Joe - a graceless, Lady Bunny-esque drag queen by trade - Tony Maudsley excels, straddling the absurd and stone-cold serious with some style; as his put-upon lover and outsider-in-all-ways Frankie, Matt Henry brings a real star quality to the Everyman stage.
Overall, it’s a clash of personalities, and absurdities, that makes for a real emotional rollercoaster.
The Royal Court-style Scouse dog-whistle of the play’s title, is misleading, as although the setting quietly serves the plot, it is almost irrelevant.
At points, dare it be said, the play is almost too melodramatic. Each character has enough depth and breadth – and comes laden with enough issues - to be a main character in their own right and sometimes, just sometimes things get a bit swamped as a result. However, together Harvey’s expert plotting and Bagnall’s skill at pulling focus keeps the story flowing in the right direction and prevents anything appearing shoehorned in or gratuitous.
On a personal note: This was my first trip to the theatre this year; now it looks like it may be the last for a while. Our Lady of Blundellsands was scheduled to run until March 28 but that is now unlikely - see the Everyman’s website or socials for the latest updates.
