Chris Eldon Lee reviews “Steaming” which is at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre until Saturday 6 July 2013
I seem to recall that Nell Dunn’s “Steaming” got itself into a spot of hot water when it premiered in 1981. An all female cast was something of a novelty then. There were naughty glimpses of middle-aged flesh and, as a fledgling feminist play, there were deep discussion about why all men are s**ts involving the F word. It also dealt with issues of domestic violence, care in the community and uncaring councils – and it caused a small stir.
Three decades on, the world has turned rather. Dunn’s social concerns have long been appropriated by endless TV soaps, there’s hot and cold running water in almost every British home, and in the day and age of Bannatyne’s, councils no longer run women-only Turkish Baths.
So it’s best to approach this sweaty re-run from Ian Dickens’ Plays as a living museum piece. In which case there are plenty of rewards.
It’s East London in the 80s and the rather run down Corporation ‘steamie’ is the male-free refuge of six of Dunn’s most endearing and enduring characters.
It’s Violet (Kim Taylforth) who runs the place. Her most regular clients include Josie, brazenly played by Rachel Stanley as an ageing exotic dancer short on professional prospects and unable to leave the man who beats her. Gormless Dawn (a star comic turn by Rebecca Wheatley) has rarely been out in the past 16 years. She’s entirely dependent upon her aged mother (Patricia Franklin) who does not have hot water at home and worries constantly about the whereabouts of her cat.
And then there are the 30-something old school friends. Jane, the mature student and mother hen of the party, is engagingly played by company veteran Michelle Morris. And I particularly admired the sensitivity of Katherine Heath’s portrayal of the well- off but unconfident and lonely single mum, Nancy. There were times when these two planted their characters firmly in my real world.
With such an interesting clash of cultures (and a common lack of husbandly love) the first half dialogue doesn’t live up to the play’s potential. But the interval cliffhanger that the baths are to be closed to make way for a new library (you see why the play’s dated!) galvanises them to campaign against losing their sisterhood haven. As they say, “you can’t talk to people in a library”.
The cast cope comfortably with the physical demands and the occasional strange discontinuities in Dunn’s text (has it been edited?) and convey a real sense of the times in which their characters live – where a nice steam up is the answer to everyone’s troubles. And we’re left with a very real premonition of how the effect of the tide of Thatcherism on local authorities is about to impact on people’s cosy lives.
Steaming is an enjoyable evening of nostalgia and humour, all done in (almost) the best possible taste.
Visit www.grandtheatre.info for bookings & information about Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre