Sheila’s Island- The Lowry, Salford

Writer: Tim Firth

Director:Joanna Read

Reversing the gender of characters in plays usually serves some radical purpose- proving a political point or widening the range of roles open to women. Changing Tim Firth’s all-maleNeville’s Islandto the all-femaleSheila’s Islandseems a simpler process of recycling, and getting a bit more mileage out of, an established play.

During Pennine Mineral Water Ltd.’s annual outward-bound team-building weekend, Sheila (Judy Flynn) disastrously misinterprets the clues on a treasure hunt and instead of guiding her team to the intended pub strands them on an inhospitable island. With Denise’s (Abigail Thaw) relentless criticism turning into bullying, Julie (Rina Fatania) fretting about her husband’s possible infidelity and Fay’s (Sara Crowe) mental health declining a challenging experience becomes increasingly frightening.

The development of the characters inSheila’s Islandis uneven. After a fine introductory speech establishing Sheila’s high opinion of herself Judy Flynn fades into the background until the closing scenes. Rina Fatania’s Julie, an over-optimistic shopaholic, is played mainly for laughs- believing she has experienced prejudice not because of her skin colour but due to her birthplace being Chester. Sara Crowe’s Fay is a strange combination of mental fragility and common sense being the only character capable of pointing out Shelia’s errors. The play is dominated by Abigail Thaw but rather than an amusingly morose Jaques type character Denise is someone who regards her lack of core values as entitling her to belittle the beliefs of other people. She has the best lines in the play but is a bully which is hardly appealing.

Director Joanna Read inserts references to the area around the venue in which the play is staged. There are some decent satirical pokes at managerial jargon and the careful avoidance in the workplace of certain words and phrases. However, there is a whacking great COVID-shaped hole in the play. The pandemic had a devastating effect on the workplace and the repercussions are still being felt. It is unreasonable to expect the updates to the play to cover COVID but even so the absence of references to, say, working from home, make it feel dated.

The pace of the play is pedestrian; occasional efforts to shift the tone feel tentative and unconvincing. The humour in the ridiculous situation where it seems possible the group might be rescued by a ferry hosting a party is not exploited fully and the disturbing suggestion by an unstable Fay of the ingredients for a possible meal does not have the creepy impact intended.

Liz Cooke’s stage set creates a bleak background against which the characters must face harsh truths. Rather than a sandy beach the ground is grey shale, and the trees are skeletal and intimidating.

At one point in the play Julie complains about being stuck in the middle in terms of her career and home life which sums upSheila’s Island.It is an undemanding play, amusing but never really challenging the audience. The gender reversal becomes, therefore, a wasted opportunity – an interesting experiment rather than a practical demonstration of gender equality.

Runs until 2 April 2022