The flyer for Mrs T Foresees promised to tell us ‘the Tale of Irish Molly Tolpuddle, Colonial Clairvoyant, Companion of Fate, Hostage to Fortune’. Given that Our Country’s Good and Blithe Spirit are both in my ‘Top 10 Plays’, this proved irresistible, a combination of revisionist colonial history and the murky world of mediums, spiritualists and fortune-tellers being a winning combination.
And there are many wins in this production, not least being the great pleasure of watching two older female actors shine onstage. Special mention must be given to Carol Tagg, playing the leading eponymous role, who creates a richly textured and fully realised characterisation and who sustains the narrative of Molly’s long life, from her teens to old age, though all its perils and misfortunes, wonders and delights, losses and downfalls, from naivety to cunning, joy to grief and eventually, a descent into the Yarrabend Home for The Lunatic. Carol must also be congratulated for her stamina as she tells this tale over a too-long 2 hours and 50 minutes.
And therein lies the rub – this production is simply too long. There is evidently an excellent play hidden within this script, but it needs judicious cutting and editing to be allowed to manifest. The original script was written and produced in 1991, and Gail Matthews has clearly revised the script to include contemporary references to significant political events and changes from the intervening three decades. Perhaps that accounts for its extended length? The running time on the venue’s website was two hours, but the production ran for an additional 50 minutes.
Or the cause may possibly lie with the inclusion of a Philippe Gaulier-inspired, Bouffon Chorus – almost Greek in style, with the mask being their Kabuki-white faces and blacked-out eyes. Like the curate’s egg, the use of this theatrical device was ‘good in parts’, being particularly effective when representing the inmates of the mad house. However, the chorus as a constant presence became wearing and a distraction to the main narrative; their forced attempts at humour undermined the dark and tragic events in Molly’s life story and distanced the audience from emotional engagement.
At times, it felt as if the three chorus actors were overly self-indulgent, showing us an extended improvisation exercise and the work seemed ungrounded, adding nothing of value, being gimmicky rather than layering another texture into the storytelling. They depart the stage once only and there was a palpable sense of relief within the audience that now we could finally be alone with Molly and focus on the telling of her fascinating tale.
At other times, the use of the chorus was successful, delivering an Australian soundscape filled with birds and strange creatures, the swift and fleeting inclusion of children’s rhymes and songs, and the thesaurus style listing of words. But less is more, and, as with the script, the Chorus element needs to be used less in order to be more effective.
Review by Janette Eddisford
In 1849 young Molly Tolpuddle emigrates from Ireland to Australia as an ‘assisted’ female. The colony of Victoria is growing rapidly and Molly seizes her opportunities. She marries, mothers a child and goes into business as a medium and clairvoyant.
Gaining notoriety on the streets and in the public houses of Marvellous Melbourne as the infamous ‘Mrs T’, she is both reviled and revered. Are her shocking predictions of the future accurate? Can she really commune with the dead?
Ultimately deemed mad by her husband and Proper Society, old Molly is locked up in the Yarra Bend Home for the Lunatic and Insane, where fellow inmates play out her life and times.
This darkly funny play looks at Molly’s survival, ambition and spirituality as she endures as a working-class woman in a society where men have all the power. It lifts the veil on death and what might be on the other side!
CAST
Molly Tolpuddle – Carol Tagg
Franny – Dottie Lubienska
Lewis – Michal Nowak
Pinky – Tom Barnes
CREATIVES
Writer and Director – Gail Matthews
Visual Creative Director – Sara Curnock Cook
Technical Creative Director – Richard Allport
MRS T FORESEES
Lion & Unicorn Theatre, 42-44 Gaisford Street, London NW5 2ED
27 May to 7 June 2025
