Forgotten Things

A dysfunctional family try to unravel their past in an attempt to discover where it all went wrong in this excellent, darkly humorous play by Red Ladder.

Sixteen year old Toby makes his entrance wearing a noose, and fully intends to hang himself as soon as possible. His mother and father leave him to look after his senile grandmother while they pay a visit to the mad Dr Kevin, a crazy-looking puppet with two brains outside his skull, in order to try and patch up their disintegrating marriage. Whilst they are away being subject to Dr Kevin’s decidedly unconventional methods, Toby reluctantly helps his grandmother to find ‘something important’ she has lost. Switching between the two scenes, the family’s history is slowly revealed, and in some exchanges that are both funny and touching, Toby gradually discovers he has plenty in common with his mad old gran, and that there could be some hope in his newfound connection with her.

Each actor wears white face make-up which magnifies every facial movement, giving the play a surreal quality that much of the humour, in particular the scenes with Dr Kevin, is derived from. Music is used subtly, playing unobtrusively enough to provide an odd, dreamy atmosphere without taking attention away from the action.

The mixture of absurdity and sincerity is balanced perfectly, so that the play’s rather heavy topics are addressed intelligently, with just the right amount of humour.