JUMPY REVIEW AT THE ROYAL COURT

Thank you to the lovely Olivia at Think Jam for inviting me to go and see a brilliant new play called “Jumpy” in the West End. I was delighted to be able to take my friend Sally with me – it felt a little like life imitating art – because Sally’s friend Doone is in the play and they were in “Smack The Pony” together so not only did I get to deliver a huge cake to Doone and Tamsin via stage door before the show but we were invited to stay on for a Q & A session at the end and then to go out for a post show drink with Doone. Brilliant.

I absolutely loved the play – it made me laugh and cry. It is mainly a cleverly constructed play about a mother/daughter relationship but also about midlife crisis and parental angst from a more female perspective. So refreshing to finally see a play about older women in a realistic setting, dealing with friends, fallout and the misunderstandings and miscommunications involved when parenting teenagers.

Tamsin Greig plays Hilary, a 50 year old slightly lost and angst ridden mother, to perfection. She is brilliant at creating a comic or poignant moment out of something seemingly mundane. Her best friend Frances, played wonderfully by Doon Mackichan represents the “keeping the attraction alive, hang on to your youth and rage against the invisibility” type of female that we all know and love (in fact I think I might be one) and is taking hitting 50 very badly “best we can expect of life now is avoiding the worst”. She is a wonderful mixture of a totally reliable, be there for you no matter what and deeply embarrassing best friend – and she has a marvellous moment involving a dance routine that she thinks might revive her career that simply has to be seen.

Bel Powey plays Hilary’s difficult but misunderstood teenage daughter to perfection. Short skirts, high heels, fake ID, the lingo, the stance, the “whatever” – couldn’t be more realistic from my point of view. Hilary flits between trying to be her friend and trying to play the concerned parent – both of which she generally mistimes spectacularly.

There are a lot of clever comparisons about the different types of parenting we do now compared to our parents generation – the dealing with teenage issues, sex, alcohol, pregnancy, drugs, periods, social media and how we as parents struggle to understand. This is set against the backdrop of mothers who hung out at Greenham common who can’t quite cope with their offsprings lack of interest in anything political. “David Cameron is a c**t” seems to be about the height of their fully formed opinion. However, for the critics who can’t quite work out what the play is meant to be about I would say that it doesn’t really matter – it is more a kitchen sink drama with political undertones – much more about mothers/daughters/fear of getting older/parenting/friendships/relationships/issues of trust and understanding….all those usual life issues we have to deal with on a daily basis.

This is essentially a play about women – there are four great male roles – all of which seem to add a strong supporting role but not much else – a loyal, but weary husband, a hapless boyfriend, a tortured lothario and a midlife crisis actor dad.

Well done to April de Angelis who wrote it – very perceptive and my only complaint is that I wish I’d written it myself.

Here is a very bad photo of Sally delivering cake to Doone and Tamsin:-

And some of the cast during the Q & A session:-

If you’re wondering…the reference to “Jumpy” comes right at the end of the play and again, Tamsin times her story to perfection. Both funny and sad at the same time.