The stage adaptation of Martina Cole’s novel Two Women, receives its world premiere at The Theatre Royal Stratford East
BY HARMEET VIRDI | MAR 11, 2010
Martina Cole’s 'Two Women' novel comes to life in this adaptation by Patrick Prior. It’s about the sexually abused Susan (Cathy Murphy) who is depressed, repressed, assaulted and abused by her father Joey (Michael Bartenshaw). Bartenshaw here again shows how much he can get under our skin by playing this sadistic depraved monster who preys on his own daughter Susan whilst his wife June (Victoria Alcock) turns a blind eye to all this because she fears that her husband loves their own child more than her.
Murphy’s dramatic performance is so down to a tee that it brings tears to your eyes when she meets Barry (Marc Bannerman) who sets his eyes on this timid, ugly and abused woman, only to take her away from her perverted father to use her as his own personal punching bag. Susan finds that upon marrying the handsome Barry that he is in fact a womaniser who will stop at no length to have affair after affair whilst Susan sits at home struggling to make ends meet with their children.
One day she cannot even scrape enough money together to pay for the electricity, her next door neighbour Doreen (who also plays double role as Prison Officer Blackstock) has to lend her some cash. This humiliation makes Susan go and search for her husband who has not been at home for a few weeks. When she arrives she realises that Barry is up to no good with his drop dead gorgeous manageress Roselle (Sally Oliver) at the bar where he works. Roselle soon realises that Barry had no intention of leaving his wife for her but soon makes a solid pact with Susan and promises to make sure she never has to worry about money again by giving part of Barry’s wages to her every month.
Roselle gives a very convincing performance of a strong and powerful woman who Barry cannot bully, but he respects her because Roselle is the only woman who stands up to Barry. Roselle and Susan form an alliance and come to their own agreement, Roselle loves Barry and very well knows she is the mistress, but Barry also loves her in return but all three understand the situation and just get on with it, until one day Barry comes home where only his daughter Wendy (Sophie Cosson) is alone in the house and Barry horrifically rapes her. The scenes were so true to life that the audience went dead in the jaw-dropping performance of the screams by actress Sophie Cosson endure being raped by her father.
Susan comes home to find that Wendy is hysterical, Susan sends her daughter to Doreen’s house whilst she goes to confront Barry. What happens next ends up with Susan being imprisoned.
The play further develops to show how Susan is held in prison for the murder of Barry. Whilst in prison Susan ends up befriending Matty (Laura Howard), her cellmate. Both women are up for murder charges for killing their husbands. When Susan is asked by her lawyer Colin (Marcus Ellard) why she killed Barry, to protect her daughter’s anonymity she does not tell him he raped their teenage daughter but that he was a wife beater and that she snapped one day and took his life.
Geraldine (Frances Albery) is one of the most well renowned and women’s defence lawyers and is also Matty’s lawyer. She hears about what Susan endured, and after speaking with Roselle (who pays for her services) wants to fight to get Susan freed. She gets the charges dropped and Susan is released.
'Two Women' reflects the ideal of when at first the victory is of one man who has two women that he both decieves, that ultimately in the end to survive, the two women stick together, as Roselle and Susan did. When you first learn that Roselle is the mistress, spite certainly fills inside of you, but as the story develops the audience learn that this woman turns out to be a saviour to Susan.
It's a definite 'must watch' and you'll be transfixed with the dramatical performances from each and everyone of the cast. Though there is also the one thing I have purposely left last to mention - "Who ACTUALLY killed Barry?". There's only one way of finding out...
