Liverpool-based Stack Theatre have devised Rose of June inspired by the writing of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, whose explorations of death, dying, grief and mourning have become standards on the shelves of many a bereavement counsellor.
Creator and performer Christopher Rae has worked with director Natasia Bullock and the other two cast members to produce a measured and delicately balanced one hour piece which they tell us is still undergoing further development and exploration.
As it stands in its current version, Rose of June is a compact and tightly focused piece that delivers its message with a mixture of subtlety and sledgehammer impact, very much as its subject impacts on the lives of those it touches.
Sam (Christopher Rae) is a young man whose life has been torn apart by the death of his wife, something that came very suddenly following a brief and unspecified illness that was diagnosed too late. Luckily for Sam he has two good friends on hand to lead him through the wilderness of his emotions. Iain Hoskins is Daniel, Sam’s best mate, a pillar of strength who seems to know exactly what needs doing, or so it seems. Gemma Banks is Emily, for whom Sam’s wife has left a letter outlining her wishes for her funeral.
We join Sam in a café where he is awaiting the arrival of Emily, but Daniel turns up first and we learn that he and Emily have already agreed that they both need to be there to support Sam through an ordeal. One of the play’s great strengths is that it rarely uses overt expository dialogue, allowing the back story to be revealed as gradually as the slowly blooming rose in the picture to the back of the set.
Daniel approaches the situation from the angle of focusing on the practicalities and getting everything perfect, while Emily has a more emotional response, and is anxious to make sure that the terms of the letter are respected. Frustrations soon develop between them and eventually Sam, who needs someone to tell him what to do, goes along with the practical advice of Daniel, while Emily despairs over unfulfilled promises.
Rose of June is a moving examination of the different ways each of us deal with loss, and the desolation of those plunged unexpectedly into bereavement. To be honest, the pre-publicity describing the inspiration of Kubler-Ross and the improvisational creative process had given me some uneasy expectations of excessive introspection, but in reality the piece moved with a natural rhythm and pace, and was graced with three excellent performances.
The dialogue is also very natural throughout, with the possible exception of an awkward first consultation with a counsellor that didn’t quite ring true. Beginning in a world of awkward silences and ending somewhere on the road to acceptance, it allows us to share Sam’s journey and feel the warmth of the sun coaxing us back from despair into hope, whilst giving us pause to think about how we react to friends in shared grief.
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