Written by Angus Graham-Campbell, Wreckers
tells of one family’s declining fortunes. Father (Peter Broad), Mother
(Sandra Martin-Roberts), Sally (Freya Brett), Julian (Tom Palmer) and
Lorne (Frankie Parham) have lived in the old castle on the island since
childhood. Times are difficult, the castle is crumbling round them,
Julian is facing time in prison for dealing and the death of his
girlfriend, and his mother’s mind is taken more and more to wandering.
They rely on the old painting from the hall to sell well at auction. Callum’s (Edward Corrie) father has designs on the castle,
to modernise it and split it into flats.
The action takes place over the period of a
year, starting in summer when Julian is about to face trial, he entrusts
what sounds like a box of incriminating evidence to younger brother
Lorne. We discover the relationship between Sally and Callum.
The painting of the Wreckers is found to be a fake and raise only
a few thousands. Julian goes to jail and we see mother fading more and
more into dementia. At Christmas we find out more about Julian’s
mistreatment of Lorne at boarding school as well as Lorne’s sexuality.
The final scene returns to mid summer, the
stability of the home and relationships have been wrecked in several
ways but the final destruction is still to be witnessed.
The cast together have a wealth of experience
between them and all the characterisations were totally believable. At
the beginning of the play I wanted to get hold of mother and shake some
sense into her, this was before her condition was apparent. A very
enjoyable production despite the ending!
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