Review: The Tide Jetty, by Tony Ramsay, Eastern Angles, touring Suffolk and Norfolk until June 1
Eastern Angles spring tour gives us a hauntingly beautiful production of a new play with songs set within the atmospheric marsh banks of Breydon Water.
Eliza has returned to Breydon waters a different woman from the one who left many years earlier. Her daughter, Annie is with her and the man she married, Morton, has work to do on the banks as an engineer. However, the ghosts of her past are still present in the vitally alive form of Tucky. The secrets of her past, the Eliza she has had to try to forget, is just below the surface about to be washed up with the tide.
As this story unfolds across time the stunning set and lighting become a character within the play, as nature itself and the relationships it witnesses. But it all feels ever so precarious as paths are literally created onstage between the characters, their present and their past with wooden planks and stumps of wood. In contrast, Morton’s work as an engineer, altering this landscape of the marsh banks of Breydon Water is seen by him as progress. With Victorian patriarchal zeal, he believes the world can be controlled by measuring otherwise we would all be “at the mercy of nature.”
The production marks these contrasts of “man vs nature” with physical theatre to move the narrative and connect the characters. This act of physical connection and movement merge sensuously, starkly opposing the stiffness of the relationship the kindly but controlled Morton and all he represents.
The actors in this production work seamlessly together as an ensemble in the small space, with defined characters, especially Benjamin Teare in dual roles as Nathan and Morton and Abe Buckoke as Tucky. As Eliza, Laura Costello creates a nuanced characterisation of integrity and depth and her singing voice is stunning. Megan Valentine as Annie, her daughter captures the sense of curiosity and independence that her mother has had to supress to survive. The relationship between the two drawn by Tony Ramsay is refreshingly subtle and forgiving. It feels unique to them.
This production is on tour across the region over the next couple of months and is highly recommended.
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