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I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
I just gave birth to you and raised you for fifteen years! Withered lemon Helen, The Incredible Ulf And the articulate Rose Tucked together in a tight bunker. This show shoved snow and poetry and jokes in my ears. I hunkered down And listened As the light tightened And the gossip fodder blossomed. Get this! that rind of a figure curled on the sofa, coughing, shuffling, complaining and smoking Is Rose’s mom and they haven’t seen each other since Rose was fifteen and her little brother was five. Her name is Helen. She’s antsy but she doesn’t regret her choices. She’d suffered in her role as mother to the extent that she did a runner with her lover Ulf And the pair set up a new life together somewhere polar; Meaning no daylight, no maternity ward and no cemetery owing to the harsh climate. In her mother’s absence Rose took on the responsibility of caring for her little brother. She knows what suffering is. Ulf is a miner. He claims to be ‘mining his own business’ But it turns out that he has been totally sticking his oar in the family dynamic. Rose only trekked out to that remote zone because she thought her mam had summoned her as a dying wish But it transpired that Ulf had written the letter pretending to be Helen. Ulf thought it reasonable to expect Helen to lie to her daughter about the nature of her feelings towards motherhood. (men eh!) Helen told the truth. Rose was honest about her feelings in response and left. Polar Night raised questions About responsibility, love, Socially imposed expectations, Life, independence and loyalty And left it to the audience to tease out their own answers. Emma for DRAFF Polar Night by Nadine Flynn and Aaron Stapleton runs at The New Theatre as part of the Dublin Fringe Festival until September 23rd. Image: Aaron Stapleton
Posted: 19th September 2017 |