Sometimes it is the easiest thing in the world to write a review. You see the show, know immediately how you feel and then the words come flowing out of you onto the page. Other times it can be the reverse. And that’s exactly how I’m feeling about Nook which I saw at the Union Theatre.
The story is set in an old house where two estranged brothers – Tom (Cameron Corcoran) and Kenny (Shannon Smith) – have just returned from their mother’s funeral. The house is run-down with very lived-in furniture and pretty much what you would expect from an old person’s house, even though lodger Uncle Phillip (Tim Molyneux) is supposed to help with its upkeep. Thanks to the actions of their mother, boys don’t get on and haven’t for a long while and it’s not long before they revert to their old, combative selves much to the consternation, and disgust of their wives – Maya (Aoife Boyle) and Sarah (Zoë Scott). The women are so upset that they decide to leave the men and return to their homes and children, leaving Tom and Kenny to fight it out while Phillip tries to defend their mother’s memory. Into this gunpowder keg-like mix comes the boys’ sister Beth (Velvet Brown) who has her traumatic memories with her mother and Phillip to contend with as her brothers taunt each other about who was top dog. This situation is not helped when the mother’s will is read and they find out that she left everything to Kenny, the eldest son, and nothing to the rest of the family.
The website describes Nook as follows. “Off Main Stage’s new play explores the interaction of working-class and middle-class lifestyles, how intergenerational trauma is cyclical and no matter how far we get away from our past, it is always there.” And up to a point, I can see that. Writer Cameron Corcoran’s narrative makes it plain that both Tom and Kenny have escaped from a working-class background and, through their marriages, have moved up the socio-economic scale, a point emphasised by the names of their children – aspirational to their core. However, the story suggests that maybe their middle-class respectability is just a veneer and that underneath there are two working-class boys just waiting to come out ready to fight. Something that even when dead, their mother is able to bring about.
The problem for me was that whilst the theme made sense the story didn’t really flow in a logical manner. Whilst being quite pivotal to the tale being told, both of the wives were dispatched quite early in the first act as though they were really only there for a limited purpose then got rid of. This was a real shame as Zoë Scott as Kenny’s wife Sarah had some of the best lines at the start of the play and delivered them with the right amount of snobbery and pure bitchiness to make you love and hate her at the same time.
All of the performers were really good and there were a lot of emotional moments with sudden flare-ups – at one point resulting in pieces of a mug heading my way – and some introspective points where the three siblings seemed to be united in a real family way. But these rarely lasted and it took little for another outburst to happen.
Hector Smith’s direction was good but, again, felt a bit weird to me. For example, it felt that characters moved around the stage a lot and at times just seemed to move away from the vicinity of another that was heading in their direction. There was probably a reason for these movement choices but honestly, it just put me in mind of programmes filmed during the pandemic, where there were continual gaps between characters in line with the rules on social distancing in those days.
Overall, Nook left me with that uncomfortable feeling that I was missing something for whatever reason – something that always annoys me. For example, and I’m going to try and avoid spoilers, Kenny makes a decision about the house that to my mind, made no sense whatsoever but the others seem to go along with, and the ending scene actually left me worried about what was going to happen next as it seemed to go down a potentially very dark passage. I’m not sure whether it was me or the writing but, as the show finished, I was wondering why everyone was the way they were and then questioning myself for not knowing the answer.
Review by Terry Eastham
Following the wake after their mother’s funeral, Kenny and Tom return to their old family home to hear the will their mother has left behind. Long forgotten traumas reach the surface when their estranged sister Beth arrives and the boys’ wives learn secrets that could break the family.
Shannon Smith – Kenny
Zoe Scott – Sarah
Cameron Corcoran – Tom
Aoife Boyle – Maya
Tim Molyneux – Philip
Velvet Brown – Beth
Writer – Cameron Corcoran
Director – Hector Smith
Assistant Director – Isabelle Tyner
Lighting Designer – Thomas Hubbard
NOOK
Union Theatre
19 to 21 August 2024
Hi I read your review with interest. The uncertainty you felt at the end I agree with. This is because Act 3 was not performed. You are right the play was heading down a dark rabbit hole but all is explained in the final writing which unfortunately was not performed. Hopefully the play will be taken forward to be performed at other theatres and Act 3 could be included.