'Family Matters' by Ginny Davis - Touring Locally
Ginny Davis is a very clever woman
She kept 60 or so of us, holed up in Stratford Grammar School for an evening’s fundraising entertainment, rocking with laughter for a blissful 2 hours. Family Matters, her latest one woman show, is a blinder.
Well-heeled housewife Ruth Rich takes us with her as she prepares for a party. So far, so Mrs Dalloway, but Ruth is very modern multi-tasking heroine, switching from parent to wife to (half-reluctant) confidant, her days measured in family breakfasts and surreptitious Maltesers, to a soundtrack by Coldplay.
I suppose what Davis performs is a monologue, but she populates the stage before you so convincingly that it’s hard to believe she’s alone. A whole raft of very different characters are conjured up, each beautifully observed, exquisitely drawn and often cringingly familiar. Tetchy teenagers (That is SO gross!), fearsome dog walkers (Benjie, wait…), their dogs (poor Benjie, a west highland terrier waiting to defecate on command, his agonised expressions worthy of Michael Crawford’s Frank Spencer), Scandinavian tuna wholesalers: Davis’ sheer versatility is dazzling.
At the school gate, shopping online at Tesco (Mr Rich is ‘something big’ in Tesco – could Davis have a sponsorship deal?), on a country walk, Davis draws you deep into Ruth’s world. So, when the planned party reaches its magnificent denuement (‘his tongue slid between her dolphin-friendly lips’), you are ready, groaning in sympathy and howling with mirth.
Davis’s timing is immaculate, her every word and gesture honed to the keenest edge. I’m told she rehearses constantly in her converted garage, endlessly refining and polishing each nuance, and it shows. She went down a treat at the Edinburgh Fringe, and I can’t imagine why she’s still playing village halls rather than major venues. Catch her now while you still can!
http://www.ginnydavis.com/
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I read your Warwick Gardens post first. Loved some of the imagery you use. Loved your rant (because it's a blog) but then felt woa...Alison - don't lose confidence....because then I read your Ginny Davis and thought. Brilliant Review. What is Alison talking about only writing about axles or whatever etc etc?
ReplyDeleteYou have got a really good intro. You follow it up with a load of information to tell us it's a show and where and how many and set the mood for the piece. That's all excellent.
When writing - keep in mind the reader. The reader isn't in your head. Your reader picks up the words you have written. So they have to be absolutely clear and not leave them thinking "hmmm..I wonder what that's about?". So think to yourself 'do all of the asides work' eg the reference to Mrs Dalloway. Not everyone will be familiar with V Woolf and by refering to the book title, you could lose your reader..And yet, you don't want to stop your flow by having to explain further. So, in that case, I'd leave it out.
So read pieces over and again a few hours later, read them again.
But this review is good. Very good. Wish I'd known about Ginny Davis. (don't forget to say 'when' it was...bearing in mind the who, what, why, when, where and how mantra!!)
- Sally
Thanks very much indeed for this. I was quite pleased with this (it actually came out at 250 words and I had to ADD a paragraph - quite a surprise!). But then I read RichYork's excellent stuff and realised how very long and complex my sentences are. Tried cutting the phrases down into separate sentences but it didn't work at all. So I started the Hill Close Gardens piece as an effort to get tighter, and things actually got worse....!
ReplyDeleteI'm not young and angry, I'm middle aged and tired, and my style is never going to be like smoe of others on the course.
Your comments on the Hill Close Gardens piece were dead right - it was written as an advert, not an article. Hadn;t noticed I was doing it. It's going to be a difficult habit to lose. One of my marketing tricks is to get free publicity by writing 'objective' articles for technical/industry mags, pushing our products subtlely enough to get past the editor who was just grateful for the free copy and pics. Must remember I'm not marketing anything now, except possibly me!