Mary Rose

This Mary Rose is a very good production of a script that many may find quaint, perhaps even obsolete. It uses language and plot devices of a long-gone era, poses far more questions than answers and seems more intent on atmosphere than character or logic.

The story focuses on the title character: a woman who, on two separate occasions, mysteriously disappears, only to reappear without aging or any memory of having been gone. Told mostly in flashback, the story centres not only on Mary Rose but on the effect her disappearances have on her parents, husband, son and members of her community.

Written by JM Barrie, the play has many similarities to his classic Peter Pan. In fact, Mary Rose might actually work best as a companion piece to Pan with its shared themes of growing up, mother/child relationships and mysterious islands. While Peter chooses to stay young, Rose is never allowed to grow old, and both characters are more intent on being child-like than acting as adults.
At its heart, it is also quite sentimental, far more so than a modern audience would come to expect, especially for a ghost story.

Director Tony Cownie has the difficult task of not only staging an effective piece but ensuring that the action and the atmosphere stay in check. He mostly succeeds, allowing the story's playful nature to come out as well as feelings of loss and unease.

He may have played a bit too safe at times, but it is still a production that makes many good decisions, including the use of Barrie's overly-complicated stage directions as narration. Only his decision to change the play's final moment, ending on a note of surprise rather than using Barrie's saccharine finale, feels a bit desperate to be taken seriously.

The cast are uniformly solid, finding ways of balancing mystery with good humour. Michael Mackenzie and Anne Kidd are both very believable and sympathetic as the parents, as are Perri Snowdon as Mary's youthful husband and Robin Laing as the dependable Mr. Cameron. Una Mclean and John Ramage do rather well in small roles that make lasting marks, and Guy Fearon's Harry makes for a very likable lynchpin.

As for Kim Gerard, her Mary Rose is a rather delicate interpretation. She is able to play child-like without trying to be a child, and it's rather sweet, making her character's tragedy all the more effective.

If there is a flaw, it may be in the production's design, or over-design. Neil Murray's set looks impressive but sometimes upstages the action and occasionally clashes with Malcolm Rippeth's lighting design, and Philip Pinsky's compositions and sound effects are nice but excessively used, especially during key moments and set changes.

In the end, Mary Rose is a competent ghost story that looks great, even if it feels its age. Those looking for an atmospheric, well-told tale will find much to like; those wanting good scares and modern pacing will probably be bored.