Be Rain For Me Reviews

Though new to producing, Writer Susi Wrenshaw and Director Matthew Ganley have a great deal of collective experience in theatre and it shows in this, Happystorm Theatre's confidently understated debut production. The Salford couple has an enviable list of credits between them and the programme notes tell me "Susi's passion for new writing was sparked working on script development with Mark Murphy, Lawrence Til and Conor McKee". She must have been paying attention because her own text is taught, well crafted and moves deftly between effective comedy and affecting darkness. Easy, often hilarious dialogue between the protagonist, Willow (Susi Wrenshaw) and her friend Leah (Amy Spencer) as they negotiated the mundanities of workaday life contrasted well with the moving scenes of mental torture and distress played out by the older cast members.

If Wrenshaw's greater experience and the advantage of delivering her own text gave her performance an assuredness and fluency that Amy Spencer didn't quite hit, the margin was not wide. Neither was ever less than engaging and Spencer brought an energy and attention to character detail that charmed from the off.

If this had been a novel, one of the most often used words might be 'meanwhile'. Willow's parents (from whom she is estranged) inhabit a world of mental illness and psychological abuse of the most surprising kind. Stage right, we see a mother in late middle age keening for her lost child. This is Moth, played with great honesty and sensitivity by Jacqueline Redgewell. Stage left, the same child works in a fish shop, chats with her friend, reads an old diary. This is how the events play out - in split screen as it were, moving from one to the other in the 'meanwhile'. This isn't lazy direction - it is clear direction, which understands that things on stage need not be complicated to work. It places events crucially and tragically side by side, just out of reach of one another. When Willow's father Ray (Russell Kennedy) crosses the imaginary line that divides the two frames he forces a confrontation that brings the play to it's chilling conclusion.

Be Rain For Me is a tragedy that reveals its dark heart gently without raising its voice. This quality, incidentally, was reflected in Russell Kennedy's performance. It was reserved in a way I only came to appreciate as the character's complexities became clearer. I think I wanted to see something more expressive but ultimately his choices worked for him and for the piece.

This, finally, is a very human story concerning pain passed down the generations. It doesn't pull any punches but neither is it desolate. I can't wait to see what Happystorm do next.

- Simon Hedger on 'Be Rain For Me' at Contact Theatre January 2011

After the death of the grandmother by whom she was raised Willow (Susi Wrenshaw who also wrote the play) finds disturbing evidence of the reasons why she was relinquished by her birth parents.

Wrenshaw has an absolute gift for dialogue and the exchanges between Willow and her friend Leah (a sparking performance from Amy Spencer) are crammed with convincing and amusing incidental detail. Russell Kennedy, as dominating father Ray, enjoys the psychological menace in his speeches.

Director Matthew Ganley takes a naturalistic approach to bring the various elements together. The brevity of the play does not, however, allow for the motivations of the parents to be explored in the depth required for the plot to be wholly credible.

The effort of the cast to compensate exaggerates some of the scenes between the parents. A more abstract directorial style- treating each scene as a ‘ snapshot’ rather than part of a continuous link- might have worked but really this is one of those rare plays where a slightly longer running time would have been welcome.

The care taken by Happystorm Theatre to ensure a quality production is apparent throughout the play including the atmospheric folk-based music composed and performed by Ganley.

 - Dave Cunningham on 'Be Rain For Me' at Contact Theatre January 2011

Written by Susi Wrenshaw and set in contemporary Salford, this play examines the “hidden...” aspects of domestic abuse, such as emotional, psychological and medical abuse, and isolation of the victim. The way that time stops for the victim, because there is never any end to the abuse, is portrayed brilliantly.

Also, the way that the perpetrator’s blame for the abuse is subtly shifted onto the victim and onto their estranged daughter is portrayed well.

The comic banter between Willow and Leah is superb. There’s also a cheerful rendition of that feel-good Spice Girls classic “Wannabe”, as well as original compositions by the director, Matthew Ganley

If this play is performed again in the near or distant future, I recommend you buy a ticket before it is too late.

 - Helen Wallworth on 'Be Rain For Me' at Salford Arts Theatre July 2010

Read the full review HERE