Funny, informative, intensely moving

Ceri on 17/05/2010

Into My Own
Published Friday 14 May 2010 at 17:35 by Jon Holliday

For almost 30 years Hijinx has staged plays that not only entertain but in many cases carry significant social messages, often exploring physical and/or learning disabilities.

Glenys Evans’ play is a prime example of this courageous policy, with the added relevance that the cast of four features Sara Pickard who herself has such difficulties. Her performance is a heartening follow-up to her moving professional debut in the company’s Miss Brown to You.

Into My Own concerns Anne (sensitively played by Cler Stephens) whose over-protective mother goes into long-term care leaving her daughter vulnerable to the everyday embarrassments and hurts experienced by the disadvantaged.

Cocooned from birth in a well-meaning smother love that encouraged total dependence, Anne faces a bleak future of institutional confinement. Her married brother Ken (Adam Timms) with demanding family commitments of his own, cannot cope until an enlightened care worker friend Terry (Jack Reynolds) comes to the rescue.

One of his charges, the extrovert Dilys (another heart-warming portrayal by Pickard) has already overcome her disabilities to establish a large degree of independence. With patience and despite frustrating setbacks, the three encourage Anne to live a similar fulfilling life.

James Williams’ and Gaynor Lougher’s staging of the many short scenes moves with commendable pace, never shirking the uncomfortable situations that physical, mental and emotional problems frequently entail.

The music and songs emphasise that all children, no matter what their circumstances, while needing strong roots, must also be spurred on to spread their wings and fly free.

Funny, informative, intensely moving, Into My Own visits nearly 40 venues on its three-month tour of Wales and England.

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