Pearl Necklace @ thespace

Fishing in the work of Carol Anne Duffy for source material, Swishtheatre’s Pearl Necklace is an engaging series of single-handed sketches on women's lives.

Using only white cloths and glass jars for scenery and props, Dominique Neville is able to create a living world for each of the women, sometimes switching mid-sentence from comic irony to heart-broken grief. Although the subject matter is often serious, humour is the dominant mood of the production, with Neville showing great comic flair and an ability to connect instantly with the audience.

The stand-out was the title sequence Pearl Necklace, weaving a multilayered examination of a maid’s dreams of the glamorous life her mistress leads. But the other sketches are also packed with fun and interest: Red Riding Hood happy with her wolf; hilarious skits on binge drinking and an ever-hopeful but always waiting bride, and sketches about miscarriage, mixing humour with tragedy and reconciliation.

Running at 35 minutes (not the hour, as advertised), and packed with a crowd of characters, the time flies by. There’s a growing cottage industry in creating dramas around Carol Anne Duffy’s poems, and this is an entertaining and worthy addition to the list. [Mark Harding]