Stage Review BRIGHT PLACES

 

Lauren Foster,  Aimee Berwick, Rebecca Holmes

Bright Places at Birmingham Repertory Theatre (The Rep)

Photography by Graeme Braidwood

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The Peggy Ramsay Foundation helps dramatists in direct ways, a winning recipient of a bursary fund from this organisation is writer, Rae Mainwaring, for this play: Bright Places, which is at Birmingham's Repertory Theatre this week and kicks off a UK tour.

Mainwaring was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 24 and so this play is her story about that and is the subject and theme. Therefore, Bright Places is partly autobiographical and it is careful not to be too brutal, it is an entertaining and light approach that is taken to tell one woman's tale of living with this chronic, neurological condition.

Symptons of relapsing-remitting MS are largely experienced inwardly and so this allows a window into the world of an MS sufferer living with, what is often described as: 'an invisible disability'. 

The inner voice is given a 'voice' here. The private fears of a young woman (before her diagnosis) experiencing falls and freaky, short term facial paralysis is expressed through drama, comedy, song and dance, and as she undergoes tests and we see her 'coming to terms' and it being a process, we also see it as the harsh reality that her future will always include MS in some shape or form.

For anyone not familiar with MS and challenges that can beset upon a sufferer day to day this play is an education; Bright Places is insightful but is careful not to take itself too seriously and it is strangely, life affirming.

Three actors Lauren Foster, Aimee Berwick and Rebecca Holmes are a fine trio with great range, all three are narrators; all three have good comic timing; all three give excellent enunciation and possess performance skills across the board.


Directed by Tessa Walker

Lauren Foster,  Aimee Berwick, Rebecca Holmes

Bright Places at Birmingham Repertory Theatre (The Rep)

Photography by Graeme Braidwood

Review by theatre critic, Debra Hall who attended the press night performance of Bright Places at Birmingham Repertory Theatre on Wednesday 30 October 2024 7PM

REFERENCES

Birmingham Repertory Theatre (The Rep) Your Press Invitation to Bright Places 18 Oct

https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/

https://www.peggyramsayfoundation.org/index.html

https://www.film4productions.com/news/news/2023-01/film4-and-peggy-ramsay-foundation-announce-2023-playwrights-scheme-bursary

directly helping dramatists

by directly helping dramatists

by directly helping dramatists