Colder Than Here

I’ve been there. Seeing a close family member on cancer alert, time running out fast, no religious backup, having to face the harsh, brutal truth of impending death. I can vouch: it’s no fun. 

But that’s the big subject of this delicate little English play in which middle-aged Myra’s cancer takes over the lives of her husband Huw and two daughters, Jenna and Harriet, making the family as cold as it’s possible to be in the West Midlands when your boiler and electric heaters are down. That’s cold!

Each member of the little family copes as best they can. Jenna (Airlie Dodds) arrives with constant boyfriend problems, in competition with Harriet (Charlotte Friels) who casts a doleful eye on her younger sister’s life. 

At least they spare some time to attend to their mother’s critical problem, unlike their father (Huw Higginson) who finds it difficult to give his wife’s impending death a moment. As soon as the subject arises, he’s out of the room. 

Meanwhile Myra (Hannah Waterman), the patient herself, has plenty of schemes and plans, including assembling and painting her own flat-packed cardboard casket (in the front room!), and making her family sit through a Powerpoint presentation of her funeral. They all, with the exception of the bothered father, get stuck into helping with the planning and painting of the casket. 

The standard of acting, like in most of this theatre’s output, is very high. Hannah Waterman is exceptional as the warm English mother, giving equal attention to each of her family, until The End announces its dreadful presence.

Janine Watson directs. The set design is by Michael Hankin, whose stage is shared between the interior of the home and some excellent views of Midland exteriors, tall trees swaying in the cold wind. The constant presence of the sofa and armchair pulls you inside and the trees spit you out.

Frank Hatherley

Photographer:  Phil Erbacher