Buzz Magazine Review for Into My Own

Ben Bryant on 08/07/2010

INTO MY OWN | THEATRE REVIEW
By admin ⋅ July 5, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment
Weston Studio, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff

Wed 30 June

***


Now in their 29th year, Hijnx Theatre are veterans of Cardiff’s performing arts community. They are one of a handful of companies who produce theatre for different audiences, and Into My Own is a play that targets those possessing learning disabilities and their communities. It’s also a play that I’m not afraid to admit I approached with some trepidation, wary of the pitfalls of critiquing a production that I wasn’t sure I would be able to relate to. I needn’t have worried.

Anne (Clêr Stephens) is a girl with Down’s Syndrome who is almost entirely dependent on her mother. When her mother falls ill, Anne is unable to fend for herself. It’s up to her brother Ken (Adam Timms) to come and look after her, albeit reluctantly. Both are failing to adapt to the huge disruption in their lives until Ken runs into Terry (Jack Reynolds), an old school friend who’s a minder for another girl with learning disabilities, Dilys (Sara Pickard). The independent Dilys is an example of the girl Anne could be – but is the change too much for Anne?

The play is directed by Gaynor Lougher and the brilliant James Williams, whose version of Heart Of Darkness has been playing on my mind ever since I saw it almost five months ago. It was oblique, wonderfully disorientating, and I’ve wanted to revisit it ever since. Into My Own is certainly not as elusive as Heart Of Darkness, but shadows lurk beneath the surface of the simple narrative. It’s a premise that throws up some very challenging questions, and James seems to revel in drawing out just enough of the darkness to confront his audience without depressing them. Clêr Stephens’s performance as Anne really is very good indeed, and she approaches the role with a striking degree of sensitivity and understanding, communicating the ambivalence that Anne feels towards her newfound independence. The play thrives on a tension between protection and suffocation, and its boldness and relevance is warmly received by tonight’s audience.

Affecting and markedly well-judged, with some great turns from Clêr Stephens and Sara Pickard, Into My Own is as confrontational as it is compassionate.

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