Sister Cities

EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL 2008 REVIEW

Reviewed by Jacqueline Sharp

SISTER CITIES

Sidewalk Studio Theatre Productions

August 3rd - 25th 18:45 hours £10.50 & £9.50

I was delighted to hear that Jill Gascoine, was to come to the Edinburgh Fringe 2008, I was sure her return to the United Kingdom from the United States would excite the nation. 

Jill is best known here for her iconic roles as Maggie Forbes in The Gentle Touch, (first female copper on television) and C.A.T.S Eyes.  As a fan I was curious about her role in this production.

The dialogue between the four sisters is lengthy, for at least three quarters of the production.  All four of them have names of American Cities: Dallas, Austin, Carolina, and Baltimore.    

They talk out their childhood memories, some good, most bad.  As they compare and criticise one another, plenty of jealous sibling rivalry, bickerin and squabbling surfaces.  They moan as they describe their poor relationship with their mother, Mary, (Jill Gascoine).  This was shallow.  It would have been more interesting to see flashback scenes with Mary and her daughters, on stage.

It's disappointing that Mary comes on set three quarters way through, and disappears again ,  It's disappointing, as it was Jill I came to see on stage after all.    

What may have worked better on stage would be a set divided into two parts.  One side, the four daughters, in the living room, the other, Jill in the bathtub scenes.  This would have had a stronger impact, with the audience.  The actors could have fleeted between the two partitions, dimming the lights with the changeovers.

Director Elise Robertson, paid lots of attention to detail.  One memorable scene in particular sees Baltimore studying a set of wooden dolls, placing them on the table.  She describes each one, as members of her family, and then in a rage she thumps the smallest of the dolls onto the table, describing it as her, and as the black sheep, of the family.

One dramatic scene describes Sister Cities best for me, as it had a huge impact with Mary “taking control”.  The scene relates to why the suicide happened in the first instance, Mary is in pain, her mobility is restricted to sitting in a chair.  

Goaded on by Mary, Austin pulls off two spider’s legs.  She is spurned on by Mary, as she says “you have taken away its mobility”, now it’s ready to die like me.  This scene changes Austin’s feelings about helping her mother as she goes on a guilt trip.

The scene, emotionally charged, as Mary talks about her life before her illness, her husbands, and career.  As silence falls upon the audience, Mary says she is “ready to go” and “doesn’t want to die in a hospice”. 

 Sister Cities is well written by Colette Freedman, but the lengthy suicide scenes dragged on a bit at times.  The actors are excellent. Jill Gascoine is fabulous and still has what it takes to draw in an audience. I would love to have seen more of her, though.