Traverse
Theatre, Edinburgh
Four
stars
Teenage
dreams given the rudest of awakenings by the unwanted pregnancy of what certain
tabloids used to sneeringly dismiss as a gymslip mum is a plot device laboured
enough to have become cliché. If real life wasn’t so chock-a-block with such
things, there would never have been any need for everyday dramadies from A
Taste of Honey to Pramface and beyond.
Christopher
York’s debut play for the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough took its first
baby steps at last year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe with something that took
things further. All grown up now and out on tour following a stint in Adelaide,
Paul Robinson’s production features a turbo-charged performance from Serena
Manteghi as sixteen-year-old Yasmin, too clever for her own good despite an
alcoholic mum and an errant father.
Yasmin
falls for DJ Danny at the local nightclub when she should be studying. Danny
has a cool flat in the poshest street in town, and Yasmin thinks it’s for life
until he suddenly stops returning her calls when she tells him she’s pregnant.
So
far so kitchen-sink, as Yasmin squares up to the fact that her carefree youth
might be over, as well as the fact that the rent is in arrears and her best
mate has taken her place with Danny. Once baby Jack arrives, however, what
initially looks set to continue an increasingly downward spiral takes a leap into
something more positive, as Yasmin and Jack take small steps that turn into big
leaps to transcend their lot in ways we’re told aren’t allowed anymore.
Sat
astride what looks like a symbolic merry-go-round by designer Helen Coyston,
Manteghi’s vibrant presence can’t help but exude hope, as she seems to visibly
mature from an out of her depth adolescent to a responsible parent determined
to break the mould. Yes, it’s unashamedly sentimental, but York’s writing is as
alive to possibilities as Yasmin is in a play that’s fired by heart, soul and
pure love enough to take you to the moon and back.
The Herald, October 17th 2019
ends
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