Why do we tell ghost stories? To titillate? To frighten? To inspire? To warn? To grieve? To honour? Mary’s Daughters, written by Kaya Bucholc and Will Wallace and directed for The Space Theatre by Kay Brattan, attempts all of these feats.
A haunting triplet performance by Megan Carter as Mary Wollstonecraft, Rachael Reshma as Mary Shelley, and Kaya Bucholc as Shelley’s forgotten half-sister and Wollstonecraft’s “unfortunate girl,” Fanny Imlay, sets out to right the wrongs of history and restore a legacy to three women who despite their brilliance did not get the option to control their own historical narratives.
Many of the salacious details of the three women’s lives long known in fun fact format and prized as illuminating context by scholars of their works are here fleshed out, represented as consequential life events, culminations of long held desires, and surprisingly, abstract dance breaks. Distinctly theatrical but stripped back in its staging, this production is caught between the intimate encounter between three titans that the script frames it as and the awkwardness of including an audience in this interchange, especially in so challenging a room as this hybrid space provides.
The set design by Marysia Bucholc is truly lovely albeit sometimes distractingly good in such a bare bones performance venue. Lighting and sound are both technically present but provide inadequate service in this storytelling environment. Projections too are incorporated into the visual melee but fail to truly enhance the undertaking. Both narratively and spatially difficult to place, this story rests almost entirely on the backs of its three youthful performers. All three women are beautifully costumed and there are some nice theatrical flourishes in the Titianesque draping that adorns them throughout the most spectacular moments of the script but there isn’t quite enough for the audience to hold on to in the 80 minutes that it is dragged along by the hems of their skirts for.
As the revels end and the spirits are melted into air, this insubstantial pageant faded leaves not a rack behind.
Reviewer: Kira Daniels
Reviewed: 21st March 2024
North West End UK Rating: