Review | Amy's View by Mary Rose Productions at The Lens Studio, Portsmouth: "Humour, well-paced direction and high-quality acting"
When two of our national treasures – playwright Sir David Hare and actor Dame Judi Dench – personally endorsed this Portsmouth production, I knew it needed closer inspection.
Amy’s View tracks two decades of fraught relationship between Amy and her prickly yet vulnerable mother Esme, a well-known West End actress.
Local veteran Janet Rawson is an absolute joy to watch and owns the stage as she unpacks Esme’s complex character, testing her devoted daughter’s patience to breaking point. Meanwhile as Amy, April Singley shifts convincingly from child to adult and ultimately ‘parent’ of her ageing mother, creating several heady and tender moments in turn.
Amy’s relationship with her partner Dominic, an arts critic and lothario, proves equally problematic.
He and Amy’s mother seethe at the sight of each other and Harry Aspinwall gives a very fine performance, exuding charm and venom in succession. In addition, Nick Downes is frighteningly natural as neighbour and charlatan, Frank, while Joseph Scatley pitches the role of Esme’s acting partner Toby just right and delivers a hilarious finish.
The brilliance of this play is that it works equally well on different levels. On one hand, it’s a debate about the relevance of the arts – and theatre in particular – to our lives and society. (This is more thought-provoking and less twee than it sounds, and you can engage as much or as little as you wish).
At its simplest and its most inclusive, however, Amy’s View is a fascinating story about family dynamics and the quirks of human nature that affect them. Some of these – such as the love of money and flattery and the challenges of commitment and fidelity – feel timeless. Others, like gender equality and the power of the elite, should have been consigned to the 1980s/90s period the play is set in – yet I was struck with how sadly relevant they remain today.
If all of that sounds deep, I suppose it is. But plenty of humour, well-paced direction and high-quality acting deliver an evening that’s also a lot of fun. Amy’s View is a drama of a quality that doesn’t often make it to the Portsmouth stage and I’d like to see more.
Finishes tonight, Sunday, September 23.
DARRAGH GRAY