Review: THE HIDDEN DANGERS OF CAMPING, Theatre Royal Windsor - Tour
Photo credit: Supplied by the production
Liesl Wilke’s new play The Hidden Dangers of Camping takes us to a world that this reviewer found somewhat alien and unrelatable with a misleading title. The narrative focuses on mother/daughter relationships in America, starting from the early 1980’s across three generations, and the impact on two sisters living with a mother into the “swinging scene”. Much of the narrative is guided as a therapy session some 30+ years later for one of those sisters, Casey (Jess Nesling) with her therapist Renee (Sandara James-Young), and we soon learn that the other sister, Andi (Alex Dunmore) and Casey’s daughter Meg (Olivia Woolhouse) are also in therapy. The story unfolds through a series of very static duologues in the therapy armchairs, around the kitchen table or campfire and, at times, feels a very slow moving episodic two hour run time.
The ‘Camping’ of the title refers to the scenes in Act 1 whereby the sisters are sat in one tent while their mother Ruby (Charlie Brooks) has sex in silhouette in another tent with Bob (Stephen Rahman-Hughes), while their father Sawyer (Max Brown) chats to Bob’s wife Susannah (Sophie Mensah) in another tent. Though in truth, the swinging action could have taken place in any venue and the “camping” comes mainly from the noises emanating from the silhouettes displayed in that tent. The story is very much told from a female perspective with two male characters portrayed as one-dimensional protagonists whose actions cause the trauma. Sawyer is a weak, awkward partner with a burst of temper which sees him strike his daughter. Bob is a sex mad swinger unaware of the impact that his behaviour has on the children on the same campsite, played charmingly by Scarlett Nunes and Polly Allen, or his own two unseen sons.
Adding to the confusion in following the narrative are the many unseen characters who are referred to. We don’t meet Tina or Frisco who are in a throuple with grown up Andi. We don’t see the absent Howie, Casey’s husband and Meg’s father. We never see Regina, Sawyer’s subsequent partner after the break-up of his marriage to Ruby. Nor do we see Kevin, Ruby’s latest lover. Or Karl, Andi’s first boyfriend. This confusing multitude of characters at least tells us that none of them can sustain a relationship, although it is a stretch to conclude that this is a hidden danger of camping. Nor does the therapy throw any light on the reasons for that, it simply provides a forum for the plot to be revealed. As they repeatedly state, they are “ a f**ked up family”. Perhaps if you have experienced any of these issues you can empathise with some of the characters, but we simply struggled to keep up with the various relationships, failed to engage with their trauma and had no real interest in the outcomes.
The multi-level staging with colourful projections attempts to set the individual scenes but the ever present two therapy armchairs often occupied in the dark freeze frame, suggests that what we are seeing are unreliable, half recalled memories coloured by generational trauma. There is a suggestion that Ruby “not being afraid” of her “needs” has robbed the girls of a “normal life”, but the hysterical histrionics and bitter arguments suggest that the swinging lifestyle has had a detrimental effect on at least two generations. It is difficult to conclude that much of the blame can be placed on that camping trip rather than the flawed personalities and deceits of those on it. Moreover, we did not greatly care. Perhaps we should have. Perhaps it is an exploration of challenges in mother/daughter relationships and the dangers of that saying, “Do as I say, not as I do” and reminds us that every parent should avoid that double standard and take care on both what they say and what they do in front of their children. Indeed, ‘The Hidden Dangers of Parenthood’ might have been a better title.
** Two stars
Reviewed by: Nick Wayne
The Hidden Dangers of Camping plays at Theatre Royal Windsor until 25 July, with further info here.