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IN FLAME

Charlotte Jones

Bush Theatre, 1999.

The play juxtaposes different periods. In the present we see Alex, a 36-year-old cartographer, coping with a mother afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. Not only does she have to cope with her mother, but Alex also has to deal with a difficult flatmate and a selfish, married lover.

Meanwhile, in 1908 Yorkshire, Alex's ancestors have a similarly strenuous time: the simple-minded Clara and the oppressed Livvy live with their stonily severe Gramma. They are individually seduced by an itinerant photographer.

Throughout we have parallels between the past and the present where the women appear in both eras as women denied fulfilment whilst the male characters embody ineffectual romanticism and heartless seduction. But whilst women today have greater choices than the past they are still victims of masculine weakness or egotism.

Alex's relationship with her querulous, bedridden mother, who is a closet tap-dancer, is one of determinism. Her plump, neurotic flatmate, Clootie, believes that she only gets work as a waitress because she makes people feel better about ordering pudding.

There are also surreal touches in the play such as when a fake-Italian photographer is seducing Livvy at a Yorkshire fair and persuades her to do a bird of paradise fantasy dance.

The play, however, gives a somewhat fatalistic view of women as perennial victims of male inconstancy.