There was derision from your reviewer’s own mother when she found out my father had taken out a life insurance policy that would provide a coffin on his death: were we really so destitute that we couldn’t just fork out for one when the time came? It turned out that ‘provide a coffin’ really meant a fixed lump sum was paid out that could be used for – well, any purpose – which isn’t quite the same as a pre-paid funeral plan. And in theory, he could have taken out both, thus paying for his own funeral as well as leaving some cash for his widow. In this play, Abigail Waller (Nicole Sawyerr) finds herself in a very different position. Her mother, Linda (Debra Baker) has died: I trust it is not too much of a spoiler to reveal that some of the story is told in retrospect. But there are no savings, life insurance, funeral plans, or valuable items that could be pawned off to speak of, or anything else that could feasibly constitute a substantial contribution to the cost of a burial.
True, there is Section 46 of the Public Health (Control of Disease Act) 1984, which places a statutory duty on the local council to arrange a funeral and cremation or burial of a deceased person if there really is no other option. Naturally, Abigail is reluctant to go down this route, and in what becomes a surprisingly nuanced and detailed narrative, the play explores all sorts of dilemmas in life. Linda had clearly encouraged Abigail to pursue her (that is, Abigail’s) ambitions. Relatively few – you would have thought – would take issue with that at face value. But Abigail’s predicament reveals the challenges of being a freelancer in the theatre industry, and it was no surprise to a press night audience that she had a second job elsewhere, and even having more than one source of income was only enough to just about pay the bills and rent.
It’s not as if she didn’t try to raise finance – turned down by the high street banks and specialist lenders, she even asks Arts Council England how long it takes for a ‘project grant’ to arrive. There isn’t time, alas, for ‘what ifs’ – the clock is ticking, and there’s a time limit on how long the morgue will keep hold of a person’s body. Then there’s Darren (Samuel Armfield), Abigail’s brother, who was either turfed out of the family home or left of his own accord, depending on whose story is to be believed. A subplot about Abigail’s attempts at convincing the artistic director of a local theatre (also Armfield) to put on one of her plays when she hasn’t even finished writing it yet reveals much about the ostensibly collaborative creative process. I suspect, without giving too much away, some creative licence was deployed here, though the play has much to say about prevailing attitudes in the theatre world towards people who identify as working class.
Quite realistically, the director’s aim is to produce theatrical works that people are actually going to come to and enjoy, which during workshopping essentially involves creating and re-creating characters that are sufficiently distinct, interesting and believable. But believable to whom? Abigail’s objections increase as the workshop’s momentum builds and makes the dead Linda and other family members into significantly different people than they ‘really’ were. Baker and Armfield, between them, bring to life several characters besides the ones listed in the programme, and switch between with impressive rapidity and versatility.
I’m not convinced the microphone on a stand, used selectively, was strictly necessary – it really didn’t add anything to the production in the end. That said, the show is to be commended for highlighting some pertinent issues both in wider society and more specifically in the theatre industry, and doing so without being preachy or didactic. A thoughtful and witty production that packs more into seventy minutes than some shows do in two and a half hours.
Review by Chris Omaweng
Want to bury your mum? That’ll be £4,000.
Abigail can’t afford for her mum to be dead. No, really. It’s four grand just for the funeral. Extra for flowers. Even more if you want sausage rolls.
And if you’ve got no money: a council plot and an unmarked grave.
The solution? Turn her grief into content. Write a play from her ‘unique working-class lens’. Package her dead mum into a nice neat story. Sell tickets.
Samuel Armfield – Darren
Debra Baker – Mum
Nicole Sawyerr – Abigail
Written by Kelly Jones
Directed by Charlotte Bennett
Set and Costume Design by Rhys Jarman
Lighting Design by Joshua Gadsby
Sound Design by Asaf Zohar
Movement Direction by Rachael Nanyonjo
Dramaturgy by Lauren Mooney
Assistant Director – Phillippe Cato
Casting Director – Nadine Rennie CDG
MY MOTHER’S FUNERAL: THE SHOW
A Paines Plough, Belgrade Theatre Coventry and Mercury Theatre Colchester production
The Yard Theatre, Unit 2a Queen’s Yard, London E9 5EN
29 January to 15 February 2025
