Raiding Orchards

The Unity Theatre

Reviewed by John Owen

The play by Darren Guy could also be called Truly Scrumptious, with the emphasis on forbidden fruit and desire to know who you are what you are here for and why did you get sent to a comprehensive school. For all those who went through the process, this play struck a chord like a memory clock chiming on the mantelpiece of our brain.

The genius of the play was its simplicity. The innocence and betrayal of youth and the sweet taste of first love is fondly remembered but not overly nostalgic. The thought provoking script with personal, often painful insight and powerful sentiments, signposted the defining moments of the transition of youth into adulthood, in a short episode of adventure, the last one as a group. The decisions on love, life, dares, dos and don’ts – the whole gamut of emotions; the forbidden fruit, an attempt to grab a different life, to steal the chance of a better future, of happiness, hope and escape, even if only through dreams and freedom of the mind.

The cast, all adults playing children, were wedded to the script, like a gloved hand the fingers clenching and flexing with the pulse of the dialogue. Childhood seemed more comic, as Adam and Eve ate the apple of wisdom and knowledge, except here they are cast out to the Factory, the dreaded workplace. For factory fodder you don’t need a brain to operate a machine, just follow the instructions and leave the rest to the system.

There was an eerie display of scenes from Kirkby; the final poetry with music overlaid had a surreal dreamlike quality. Poetic observations were cast out to the audience, a beautiful picture of the search for those apples and pears we still look for, the thrill and the bittersweet taste of success. This play has mined subterranean currents of human feeling and the inner workings of a child’s mind and memory.
Directed by Ged Quayle.
Assisted by Elizabeth Lucena.