Sisters by David Storey. The Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, Brockley Road, London SE4 until 26 April 2025, 3☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

Photo Credit: Uncommon Theatre.

Sisters by David Storey. The Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, Brockley Road, London SE4 until 26 April 2025,

3☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

“Take a chance.”

This a rare chance to see Sisters, David Storey's 1978 play which has been likened to his version of Streetcar Named Desire to which, in a way, the plot slightly resembles. Adrienne, a fragile but beautiful woman has come a day early to stay with her sister Carol. They have not met for some eighteen years. Carol lives in a fairly large house on a housing estate somewhere in the north of England with her butch one time football player husband Tom and a surprising number of people seem to come and go at odd times. Drink is consumed in quantities, the sisters tentatively resume their relationship, Tom proves to be far from pleasant and expects to be obeyed while the apparent guests are equally strange as is his mother who seems to do the housekeeping. In fact he and Carol are running a knocking shop and the men and women who come and go upstairs are clients and the staff. Inevitably Carol will get beaten up by Tom who will sleep with Adrienne – she has drunk far too much. She has also offered to go into business with him as she cannot go back to where she has come from and then reveals just how fragile she really Uncommon is in a morning after scene which ends sadly and badly. It is a difficult play and this Uncommon Theatre company production directed by Elizabeth Elstub makes a decent stab at doing it although it has to be congratulated more for taking such a risk than for the end result which has its difficult moments when accents go astray and cigarettes get lit – they abound in plays of the period - which are never smoked now and while there is a lot of drinking neat gin seems a mistake. The play is arguably not one of Storey's best – his others include Home, The Contractor, The Changing Room while his novel This Sporting Life was made into a major film – but that is not to say it is not worth reviving and for that alone Elstub and her cast are to be congratulated, It is worth rediscovering Storey and this is a chance to do so not to miss.

Cast

Sarah Dorsett – Mrs Donaldson

Joanne Arber – Adrienne

Laura Kaye – Carol

Tom – Christopher Tomkins

Catherine Joyce – Beryl

Madelyn Morgan – Joanne

Oliver Lyndon – Terry

Stephen Guy – Cracker

Creatives

Director – Elizabeth Elstub

Set Designer – Molly Agar

Lighting Deigner – Justin We

Sound Design – Niamh Evans