Personal Values by Chloe Lawrence Taylor. Hampstead Downstairs, Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London NW3 until 17 May 2025, 4☆☆☆☆ Review: William Russell.

Photo Credit – Helen Murray.

Personal Values by Chloe Lawrence Taylor. Hampstead Downstairs, Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London NW3 until 17 May 2025,

4☆☆☆☆ Review: William Russell.

“Hoarding and hiding.”

Sisters Veda and Bea are estranged. Bea has retreated into some sort of mental hell in which she compulsively collects things and lives in a house full of objects from floor to ceiling. Veda, the older of the two, turns up out of the blue seeking reconciliation for a reason. She is not well, may not have long to live, and is worried that her son Ash is turning into a similarly obsessed recluse as her sister – she wants to somehow persuade Bea to take an interest in him. The play is short, some sixty minutes long and played straight through with the most interesting part being the exchanges between the two sisters as we slowly discover what is really buried under all that clutter – their past. It is a first play and it does have its flaws but what keeps it moving to a possibly too optimistic end are the fine performances by Holly Atkins as Veda and Rosie Cavaliero as Bea – the really could be sisters – and an impressive one from Archie Christoph-Allen as Ash, Veda's troubled son. There is also a spectacularly good set by Naomi Dawson which creates Bea's world perfectly but also allows for moments later when Veda ends up in hospital to allow her bed to be wheeled on as the action briefly shifts out of the squalor. It does seem as if Ash might just be saved from heading into a secret world of his own and that Bea may just escape the one she is imprisoned in. The set and aninteresting sound scape for Bea's world also help the play and director Lucy Morrison has ensured her cast do blend together so that one believes in them and in Bea's strange world, a self created tip of old papers and chairs and all sorts of domestic detritus. It is arguably a three star play but it has a four star cast, set and production so why quibble about the number. It is a fine addition to the roster of plays launched Downstairs.

Cast

Holly Atkins – Veda

Rosie Cavaliero – Bea

Archie Christoph-Allen – Ash

Creatives

Director – Lucy Morrison

Designer – Naomi Dawson

Associate Designer and Costume Designer – Hannah Schmidt

Lighting Designer – Holly Ellis

Sound Designer – Max Pappenhei