Night Out At: Chasing Rainbows

Review of Chasing Rainbows (the trilogy) from Steve Bird Productions.

By Tony Dee, for Creative Wire.

“A gripping, funny, and emotional journey with unexpected twists leading to a heartwarming finale”

Upon talking to the producer and writer Steve Bird, my first impression was how warm and funny he is. After introducing ourselves and swapping stories, we began to discuss what was his upcoming play at the time, Chasing Rainbows (the trilogy).  I have to admit that even after me and Steve spoke, I still didn’t truly understand exactly how this was going to work! A trilogy in one show? And Chasing Rainbows, in my mind I struggled to connect the title of the play to the narrative of the story that I was hearing all about.

Luckily Steve kindly offered me the chance to come and watch the show, which I gladly accepted and came along to the opening night Friday.

The first point to make is this in fact wasn’t a trilogy, it was a sort of tetralogy. Not only were they able to pull off a trilogy in one, but we were also spoiled with a bonus performance before the trilogy began with a standalone play called Keeping Faith. In this play we have a look at the lives of a grandmother (Janice Fryett), living with her granddaughter (Naomi Reddy). The play focused on the different opinions between grandparent and grandchild, highlighting the stark difference in views due to the generational gap, with both characters expressing their opinion only to receive a funny retort back in return.  Nan for me was very funny and had some lines that only a Nan would get away with causing outbreaks of bellowing laughter from the audience, a solid and seriously relatable performance from both actors.

Now began the first of the trilogy, For No One. Where we follow a young husband Desmond (Ted Grant) and wife Molly (Karen Sharples) as they traverse the obstacles of married life, and the further strains added to their marriage by Desmond’s high-flying career. Molly feels ignored and unfulfilled as Desmond is preoccupied with work even when he gets home. Desmond feels suspicious of Molly when a young flamboyant visitor Jude (Jordan Spratt) comes knocking.

I feel bad for Ted because in this act, his character Desmond isn’t very easy to like but Ted did a great job of playing the role of Desmond.  But there’s two scenes which immediately come to mind, the first is Karens performance, particularly one moment where her character Molly becomes emotional and overwhelmed. Karens performance was fantastic, it was one of those moments where the entire audience went absolutely silent, and everyone was drawn into her gripping performance. Also, the limelight is stolen by Jordans brief appearance, playing an eccentric and flamboyant visitor and having everyone howling without really saying much.

The second show Finding Strangers is set 20 years later where we see the Mum (Karen Sharples), has recently suffered through a car accident and is heading home from the hospice. Now we are introduced to a daughter, Molly (Bethany George) and her Husband Jimmy (Jordan Spratt).

In this one, Jimmy wasn’t too easy to like but played brilliantly by Jordan. I could sense a few nerves from him in the beginning, but he absolutely nailed it with a powerful performance. Bethany gave a solid performance as a young woman stuck in between her husband and her mother, as well asdealing with her own family tragedy. In this act, we see Karen play Mum in a new light, with a lot more humour and fragility.

The final act Unicorn in the Dark is still set in the same timeline as the second act and now follows young Molly (Bethany George), who is looking to reconnect with her long-lost Father Desmond (Ted Grant). In this act, I thought it was possible for both Bethany and Ted to really shine. Desmond has a twist to his storyline, and we see a new version of this character. Their performance together was very strong leading to a heartwarming finale.

A special mention goes to Elaine Louise Stewart who did a fantastic job of directing all the plays of the evening. Also, to Norman Woods (Lights and sound) and Wayne Stuart Cole (Stage Managment), as the plays were all well received, which wouldn't have been possible without their hard work.

Overall, I enjoyed the show from start to finish, stand out performances for me were Karen and Jordan but I also feel they were the two far more emotionally expressive characters. Very good performances from all involved portraying complex relationships. A relatable show, with countless funny moments and gripping scenes to fully immerse the audience. Chasing Rainbows is about a family who like most go through struggles, to some people on the outside this family’s relentless hope and optimism seem to be futile, perhaps as futile as doing something like chasing rainbows.