The Revlon Girl, OSO Arts Centre Review
Written by Penny for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
The Revlon Girl is a powerful drama set eight months after the Aberfan disaster of October 1966, when a huge wave of debris from a coal mine swept down onto a Welsh village. Directly in its path was the local junior school. 116 children and 28 adults lost their lives. Based on a true story, the play focuses on a group of the bereaved mothers who meet every week to support each other through this unimaginable tragedy. With an awareness that they have let themselves go under the weight of their grief, the women decide to invite a representative from Revlon to come and give them a talk on beauty tips, hoping it will bring back some sort of normality to their lives. As the play unfolds, the mothers begin to open up about how the disaster has affected them and their families, with the young representative from Revlon understandably struggling to know how to react to their grief.
Writer Neil Anthony Docking has created a play that does not shy away from the horror of the tragedy that hit this small mining community. But it also has a surprising amount of humour and warmth, and this is much needed as it would be a very tough watch without these lighter moments. It’s a stark contrast with the stories of the mothers, heightening their real emotional punch. The play clearly conveys the grief and anger of the people of Aberfan at the mismanagement and cost cutting that led to the disaster and then the inadequate reaction of authorities in its aftermath. It’s a theme that is still sadly relevant today when you consider the response to the Grenfell Tower fire and the Post Office scandal.
Director Lydia Sax, also the Artistic Director of the OSO Arts Centre, has staged the production in the round on a simple but effective set that mismatches an old fashioned carpet and wallpaper to give the impression of the slightly run-down room above the Aberfan Hotel, the community’s local pub. Although using the full performance space, the staging is not the most naturalistic as the four mothers are seated at separate corners of the set, needing to move into the centre for key interactions. Sax has, however, directed the play with excellent pace, keeping the audience fully engaged for its one hour and twenty minutes running time.
The flow of dialogue is perhaps a little too smooth at times. These are emotionally heightened conversations and the women rarely give the impression that they are struggling to articulate their powerful feelings. However, when the tension breaks into confrontation, the flow and tone of the actors’ delivery is perfect. This is particularly effective when Revlon (Daisy Tallulah Hargreaves) confuses Jean (Bethan Leyshon) for absent organiser Audrey, and when the holier than thou Jean faces off against the angry, foul-mouthed Rona (Eliza Capel) and introverted Marilyn (Angharad Phillips) over playground battles from their school days.
This is a true ensemble piece with each character taking centre stage to deliver powerful monologues that give a real insight into their experiences and their impact upon them. These speeches really bring home the devastation each mother feels and the ways in which they have tried to deal with their losses – through anger, faith, superstition or even hope. It’s hard to watch a character unable to accept what has happened to her girls and perhaps even harder to see another appearing to reject the child that survived.
The stand out performance comes from Alice Mayer as Sian – presenting a relentlessly cheerful personality with a nervous energy that hints at this being a façade. Her long speech about her husband and their marriage is truly heartbreaking and when Sian finally breaks down, the impact is huge.
Credit should also go to Hargreaves, taking on the role of the outsider, the Revlon Girl. She shows us the vulnerability behind the poised and polished appearance, stumbling over her words when the flowery marketing speak she is trained to deliver jars with the experiences of that evening’s traumatised audience. The mothers’ reactions move her to tears, to an awkward silence or to make her hackles rise, and this is all immediately clear in Hargreaves’ reactions.
The Revlon Girl is a phenomenally powerful piece of theatre and this is a strong production that will stay with me for a long time. Although it is absolutely heartbreaking at times, it is also full of warmth and humanity that shows the power and resilience of friendship and community.
The Revlon Girl runs at OSO Arts Centre, Barnes, until 10th November 2024.
★★★★
