UK Theatre Network

Entertaining Angels

Richmond Theatre, Monday October 5^th 2009

 

I found the set to ‘Entertaining Angels’ absolutely delightful. 

Penelope Keith, who plays Grace, receives a huge round of applause from the audience as she makes her first entrance. Grace is trying to hold down a telephone conversation when her sister Ruth (Polly Adams) comes on stage mowing the lawn.

“This is still my home and I happen to still live here”, says Grace who is having to put up with all the commotion around her.  This includes Sarah (Claudia Elmhirst) who will be taking the property off her hands shortly and is going around measuring up. 

Whilst all this is happening, Grace looks on admiringly at a ghostly vision of her late husband Bardolph (Benjamin Whitrow) who walks past her and on into his beloved greenhouse.

“Sorry about that. I don’t have one like that in Uganda”, a random comment thrown in by Ruth, referring to the wireless telephone her sister was using straight after the lawn mower had taken off of  its own accord.

Jo (Carolyn Backhouse), Grace’s daughter, manages to incite Sarah, who will be taking over the parish, to stay for tea.

“The arrival of a new priest is like a new boyfriend for some” (Grace), who then adds “I’m not being overbearing, am I”, clearly uncomfortable with the idea of her home being taken over, let alone the parish her husband ran.

Sarah reveals a little about herself, “I’m the new priest in charge.. (Grace, who had been led to believe it would be her husband, looks stunned).. Nicholas holds a frozen food company.”

Sarah and Jo, a psychotherapist, speak to one another. “We both hear confession, just in different outlets.” (Sarah)

Swiftly moving them along Grace says to Sarah, “Your husband’s gone now..”.  She replies: “You’re a very observant woman!” Also wanting to reassure Grace she says, “no-one is evicting anyone”, I merely wish to be seen as ‘the successor’.

Grace becomes protective over the greenhouse when her sister tries to go inside.  When no-one appears to be in sight she speaks to the ghost of her husband, asking his views on the new priest who will be taking over from him.

“what’s it like by the way?”, enquires Grace, inquisitive over the possibility of there being another life after this.

After all the sermons he has given about heaven, he replies: “It’s not how I imagined.”

Concerned for her welfare he adds: “You’ve always been difficult about everything.. ..you need to keep busy.. ..take your mind off things..”

They discuss ‘the son-in-law, whose brain is in his underpants, “He wasn’t known as the parish organist for nothing!”

 

Scene 2 is set by the stream and studies a conversation between Jo and Sarah.

“Why did you become a priest?”, Jo enquires.

 “I like spending time with nutters!” (Sarah)

“So you turned to God?” (Jo)

“Hardly, I turned to the French polisher!” (Sarah), who found herself turning to God when her marriage was in tatters after she had had an affair.

She continues with her explanation, “I came face-to-face with something dangerous.”

“An affair?” (Jo)

“No, forgiveness.” (Sarah)

Jo’s reaction to this is: “..as a duty.. ..you ought to give Hamish’s number out to everyone.”

 

In Scene 3 we return to Grace’s back garden as in the opening scene. She is quizzing Bardolph over his fidelity, saying: “Were you ever unfaithful?” (Grace)

“..you’re hesitating..” (Bardolph)

“you’re not in purgatory are you?” (Grace)

“No, I did that in the parish.” (Bardolph)

Their discussion is interrupted by the appearance of Ruth.

Grace, getting annoyed with Ruth’s presence, says:

“Ruth,.. what are you doing here?”

“Am I in the way?” (Ruth)

“yes! .. we’re not close” says Grace, not being one to hold back her feelings.

Sarah returns and Grace says to her: “how was the stream?.. ..do you think you could breed in it?”

Sarah looks baffled until she realizes she is referring to her husband and him breeding trout.

She becomes anxious when Jo mentions the French polisher again: “I’m not really ready for this job.”

 

Scene 4: The Stream.  Bardolph and Grace.

“The stream and I are old friends.” (Bardolph)

“Well, don’t go walking into it.” (Grace)

This is where we start to question how, in fact, Bardolph died.

“The world is full of words.. ..we’re drowning in them”,Grace says.  A clever disclosure by the writer as to how Bardolph actually met his fate.  This keeps us guessing.

Winding her husband up Grace says: “Was Jesus fat?”

“What a dreadful thing to say!”, he responds.

“What’s any of this got to do with Christ and the fig tree?, Bardolph remarks. (Bardolph fades as Ruth comes on to stage.)

Grace implies she wants to be alone to her sister Ruth.

“..suddenly you fly 6,000 miles and you’re all over me like a rash.. ..what do you want?” (pause)

“Grace, I’m here because I’ve got something to tell you.”  (Ruth)

As the audience, we automatically assume she has a life threatening illness.  (pause)

“I have a son.  He’s called Jeremy.” (Ruth)

Not knowing quite how to react to the news, Grace says: “That’s a terrible name.”

Ruth continues despite her remark, “..that’s why I went abroad.”

“So, whose was it?” (Grace)

Then the ultimate truth comes out.  Grace is told that her late husband is the father.

“He resisted bravely”, Ruth says, her argument being: “he was never unfaithful in his heart.”

 

The final scene of Act I is set in the back garden.

Grace receives no reply from her ghost husband and she tells her daughter to “go away!”, so she can continue to call out to her husband.

Jo’s reaction to her father being intimate with her Aunt comes as: “Dad and Auntie Ruth?  She’s a missionary.. ..she doesn’t do sex!”

Grace tackles Ruth: “you wrote to him later. You corresponded.”

Ruth answers: “He was just trying to do the responsible thing, nothing more!”

Grace faces her husband.

“My own sister!”

“Yes”, Randolph finally admits.  “I wasn’t thinking at all.  She was quite determined.”

“And you never felt in all the years that followed that you could tell me?  If losing you the way I did wasn’t enough!” (Grace)

(Randolph lingers in the background whilst Jo rushes back into the scene.) Grace yells out, “All my memories have gone”.

 The scene is brought to a close in time for the interval.

 

Act II opens with Ruth  still trying to explain herself to her sister about her one night stand with her husband which resulted in the birth of a son.

“The initiative was entirely mine.” (Ruth)

“Oh I see, you waited till now to make it easier.  What do you want absolution?” (Grace)

“always the victim.” (Ruth)

“You had sex with my husband!” (Grace) (both women storm off, just as Sarah rocks back up.)

Jo who tries to reason with her mother’s erratic behaviour asks her, “why Bognor?”

Ruth, who feels there is no longer a need for her to stay, suggests they might share a taxi.  Grace responds “I don’t think so, we’re going in opposite directions”. This could also be seen  as symbolic.

Jo describes to Sarah the scenes  between her mother and Aunt as being like ‘Songs of Praise on acid’. When Jo breaks down in front of Sarah I felt this was rather‘over the top’.

Sarah informs Jo, “I’m not taking the job after all.. .. I’m not ready.”

And then goes on to tell her, “I had a termination, Jo.  There was no heartbeat.  I watched my husband grieve over a child that wasn’t his and I was relieved.”

 

Scene 2:  The Stream, Grace and Bardolph.

“I haven’t waited all these years to be deflowered by a stick insect.  It didn’t matter what your body was like.. (when she loved his mind, we assume she is referring to Bardolph) ..but you spend the whole of your life with their mind.” (Grace)

(Jo tells her Mum she has cancelled the taxi.)  She does not seem to complain saying: “One of his better sermons I seem to remember. Largely because it was short .”

She reminisces about whenJo was conceived and tells her that they are standing on the exact spot where it took place.

 

Scene 3:Back garden, Sarah and Ruth.

“more measuring?”, Ruth enquires.

Response: “No, just waiting.  The last thing I want to do is interfere.” (Sarah)

“..it’s dirty linen day.” (Sarah)

(Jo enters.)

Jo advises Sarah, “..don’t do anything hasty.. ..my father would have liked you.”

The subject of relationships is brought up between them and they describe them as ‘costly to run’ and ‘in need of a good service’.

Jo says “To love someone is the most dangerous thing you can do.

I just don’t want to take risks any more.”

(Grace enters.)

“..enlighten us do, from a missionary position”, Grace addresses Ruth.

Towards her daughter, who is a psychotherapist: “oh, by the way, who are you going to invoice for this?”

“..you’re an adulteress.  You just help yourself to other people’s husbands!” (Grace to Ruth)

 Jo, who directs the conversation, says: “..this isn’t about blame, it’s about the truth.”

Sarcastically Grace responds: “She did what any reasonable human being would do, she took her clothes off and had sex with him.”

(Sarah enters.)

Grace leaps on her and says: “I’m giving Sarah a chance to test drive her pastoral skill.”

It turns out that Grace was losing a 5-month old baby around the time her sister was carrying ‘a reserve’, as Grace puts it.

Ruth: “..how could I forget.  I had a son to remind me.” 

Grace: “What hurts.. ..and what I cannot forgive him (her husband) for, is he never told me.  The truth never damages anyone.”

Sarah suggests: “Perhaps he was just too ashamed.”

Jo confirms with her Mum that her father did not drown but died of heart failure.

 

Scene 4: Stream,Randolph and Grace.

In the previous scene we learn Randolph did drown but suffered heart failure beforehand.

Grace reflective: “You used to laugh.. ..you used to upset people at dinner parties.  I want you to come out of hiding”, i.e. the man she married.

Randolph reassuringly says: “I am not hiding.  I am not hiding from anything (reiterating). ..I choose my prison”, the life he leads.

At which point he falls into the stream, as though he has been released.  Images conger up in the back of Grace’s mind, “I held his head almost like a baptism.  I wanted him to be set free, that’s all.”

Jo’s response is: “The head you held down in the water had aleady gone.”

Ruth explains: “I told him if he did (told Grace his secret), he’d lose you. ..I was always afraid of your disapproval.  You’re my sister and I love you, I’m sorry.” (Grace opens her arms in forgiveness to Ruth.)

 

The Final Scene: Sarah in back garden, in a much happier mood than when we saw her last, with bump in tow.   

(Grace enters.)

“Hail oh favoured one!” (Grace)

Grace enquires: “Did you think I was a visitation?”. Sarah had seemed frightened out of her wits.

“So, was there anything you wanted or was it a social call?”, Sarah asks.

Grace says she needs time to herself in the garden, as she is no longer its resident.  Sarah agrees.  Then Randolph appears, smartly dressed in what we think must be his funeral attire. 

Grace says to him: “I just wanted to see you here one last time.”

“Am I forgiven, Grace?”, Randolph asks.

Grace: “If you were here you would be.  God isn’t the answer to anything.  He’s the question.”

Randolph: “I’ll see you later”(in heaven).

Grace: “Tell him (God) I’ll come when I’m ready and not a minute before.”

 

In all this is a heart felt and moving piece of theatre but not really a family show because of the subjects it deals with!