Kitty in the Lane – Brockley Jack Studio Theatre

Kitty is waiting in her kitchen, dressed up to go to a pageant where her competitive friend will be performing. In her isolated house, at the end of a long lane, Kitty lives with her invalid father. She is also awaiting the arrival of her sometime lover, but he never does. Kitty is played by Aine Ryan who also devised this one-hander. She narrates the story of her life on the isolated farm, where she was always dominated by her dictatorial father. It is a grim piece of theatre, describing suicide, rape, and abortion. 

The play is intended to be the tale of a woman imprisoned by circumstances, but as a picture of modern day Ireland it was anachronistic. The farm had tractors and CCTV in all the fields: there was clearly no shortage of money. This is not a believable picture of rural Irish poverty such as might have been relevant 50 or more years ago. Why did she and her brother have to share a bed?  And why did they not just leave? Her brother had a scholarship to an American university, why did he not go?  Why did they not have any farm workers?

The staging was simple and effective. Large wooden beams were supported at various angles depicting the interior of the cottage. The only furniture was a wooden table and a very large parcel, the horrendous contents of which were eventually revealed. The lighting designed by Alex Forey was effective in conveying the oppressive nature of life in the cottage. Florence Hand’s sound design had some interesting and evocative noises, although the purpose of some of them was not always clear.

Ryan’s performance from the very beginning depicted a character who was clearly tortured. She tended to speak in a disdainful manner through a distorted mouth and adopted deliberately uncomfortable body postures. This became repetitive over the 70 minutes or so of the drama. While it became obvious by the end of the play that she was indeed demented, it would have been theatrically more satisfactory if she had allowed the extent of her psychological problems to emerge more gradually.

Ryan had clearly put a lot of thought and effort into devising and rehearsing this piece but could have done with much more advice and direction as how to produce a credible and well structured piece of theatre.

Reviewer: Paul Ackroyd

Reviewed: 4th May 2023

North West End UK Rating: ★★