The May Queen
The
Liverpool Everyman Theatre
May 4 – May 26
Author: Stephen Sharkey
Producer: The Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse.
Cast Includes: Cathy Tyson, Leanne Best, Niall Refoy, Mark
Arends, Michael Ryan,
Paul Duckworth, Dennis Quilligan, Alisa Arnah.
2hrs 15 mins
 |
The May Queen
In a work with a central theme of comebacks, what better play for actor
Cathy Tyson to make her Everyman return after twenty years than with this
new piece by Stephen Sharkey.
Frank
Donohue has been murdered and as the culprits bury his death in the
chaos of the Liverpool Blitz, his daughter Theresa prays for revenge.
Tyson plays Angela, a woman so obsessed with keeping secrets she has difficulty in separating fact from fiction. An intense role demanding the very best from an actor, Tyson delivers the goods impeccably. There’s something in Angela that everybody will be able to relate to and the skill with which she is performed is, at times, breathtaking.
Vinnie Phelan, Angela’s lover, is the embodiment of every workingman on the illicit up who has fallen for someone they shouldn’t and Niall Refoy’s performance holds such strength almost single handedly he encapsulates the real dog-eat-dog mentality of wartime England.
Yet
without doubt the performance of the evening belonged to Leanne Best
for playing heart-broken Theresa with such style and emotion. Rarely
is it angst and turmoil can be delivered with such a steely edge, without
it appearing forced or unnatural. Yet Best manages on all fronts.
This is the Everyman’s ninth world
premier in two years and each play performed has been highly acclaimed.
Yes, The May Queen is a superb production,
but nonetheless it could do with a little shaving, but with that said,
overall Stephen Sharkey has written a tight, thought provoking story
set in 1941 that challenges morality and belief on so many levels, with
such an astute deftness of touch, it can easily resonate along the years
to the world in which we live today and should be roundly applauded
for doing so.
9/10
LISTEN
TO CHRIS on BBC Radio Merseyside - Thursday
10th May 2007. Chris was talking about the play, The May Queen
from the Liverpool Playhouse.
If so - please feel free to leave your FEEDBACK
break the rules as I see fit.” - Chris High 2003.