Autumn 2005: Memory of Water

 Cast:

Mary:          Zuzana Cox
Vi:               Angela Robinson
Teresa:       Carol Rees
Catherine:  Susanne Thommen
Mike:           Steve Sims
Frank:         Michael Clarke

Director:     Michael Clarke

Production Manager: Tony O’Sullivan

Winner of 2000 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Comedy

 “Combines a flair for the dynamics of theatre - a mistress of Comic Anguish” – Guardian

An emotional roller-coaster – moving seamlessly from hilariously funny to deeply moving.  Three sisters return home during a snowstorm for the funeral of, their recently deceased mother.  The sisters agree on almost nothing - including what it was like growing up together.  The only similarity between them is the influence of their mother going through them “like wine through water”.As they sort through Vi’s long forgotten clothes and accessories, each recalls her own childhood memories of their mother – and discovers that memories and experiences can be reshaped and “corrected” to match one’s own hopes and disappointments.

Each daughter is dissatisfied with life, blaming her situation on everyone - except herself.

Mary is the classic over-achiever - a successful neurologist currently researching the complexities of memory.  But she is in crisis.  She has vivid dreams of her dead mother and she is obsessed with the treatment of one of her young amnesia patients.  For the past five years she has been having an affair with Mike, a married TV celebrity doctor.

Teresa lived closest to her mother and has fallen into the role of “martyr”.  She resents her sisters for abandoning her with their mother in the throes of Alzheimer's disease.  Teresa and her husband Frank run a health supplement business although Frank, if he is honest with himself, would rather be running a pub.

Catherine, the youngest daughter, has always felt unwanted.  Self-absorbed, lonely and desperate for affection, she is constantly seeking love and acceptance.  She relies on drugs and therapy to struggle her way through life.

Gradually they come to realise that despite their very different personalities, each retains elements of their mother - just as in homeopathy water is said to retain some biochemical memory of whatever has been dissolved in it.

A must for anyone who could have been kinder to their mother.