Writer: Chloë Moss
Director: Marlie Haco
Chloë Moss writes phenomenal parts for women. Run Sister Run tells, through fractured, backwards-pointing timelines, the fraught relationship of two sisters from Ireland, Connie (Jo Herbert) and Ursula (Kelly Gough). They come from difficult childhoods, a series of care homes and foster relationships, and they develop very different survival mechanisms, ranging from self-medication and living on the wild side to acquiring all the trappings of suburban success. These different approaches lead to tensions.
Kelly Gough has a particularly tough task in manifesting extreme emotional states with her audience mere inches away, and this she achieves magnificently. It is a brave, selfless performance that evokes strong responses. Jo Herbert has the less flashy but equally essential task of being the more emotionally stable presence, being a foil to her sister’s acting out. It is support acting out of the top drawer, and makes the moments when Connie loses it resonate with enormous power.
Charlie Beaven plays Jack, the son. He is required to show a sulky teen and a very small boy, and both states are effectively drawn if somewhat one-note. The fourth and most problematic character is Connie’s husband Adrian, played by Theo Fraser Steele. In a play where the behaviours of the sisters are treated with compassion and understanding, and their moments of cruelty and unreason come out of well-drawn contexts that make them forgivable, Steele is required to portray insensitive uncomprehending male character 101, and the lack of any character development or attempt at understanding is a shame. Moss demonstrates with the rest of the work just how good she is at presenting aberrant behaviours so that her audience can comprehend them and see where they came from. Her female characters are by no means perfect humans, but they are drawn so well that their flaws resonate. Adrian just stands there being a pillock, and the audience is happy when he’s gone. This isn’t in any way Steele’s fault; he delivers the character he’s been given.
The set is very simple, very effective, and beautiful. In the small, friendly confines of the Arcola studio theatre, it would be very easy to clutter the acting space, but the designer Tomás Palmer manages the design magnificently. A narrow mirror runs the width of the stage, showing only the faces of the actors, an effect the director uses brilliantly. The very significant costume changes require clothing to be unearthed from tubs of flowers, and when the tubs are emptied, they are used as seats. It is supremely economical, very dramatically appropriate, and fun. It also makes the transitions quick and fuss-free.
Setting aside the somewhat notional male part, this is a wonderful play. It makes a complex timeline readily comprehensible, it enables understanding of fraught but credible emotional trauma, it looks good, it makes effective use of music and of simple, telling choreographed movement, and it features two outstanding performances from Kelly Gough and Jo Herbert.
Runs until 26 July 2025
