Responsible Other review, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs

Daisy is 15 and has Lupus. She's in danger of losing kidney function. Curled miserably on the sofa in her onesie, she senses that her best friend, Alice, is starting to disengage. Worse, her father, Peter, is so intent on maintaining a house he can barely afford in the Home Counties, he won't skip work to take her to chemotherapy sessions in London. Instead, he approaches Aunty Diane, the estranged sister of Daisy's dead mother, to act as the Responsible Other.

Melanie Spencer's debut play is funny, moving, and insightful. Daisy is both petulant and needy, frightened and strong. Her father is alternately full of bombast and pathos, determined that as little should change as possible in lives already changed forever by the recent loss of his wife. Why can't his daughter at least act normal so that there's some semblance of order in their lives? Diane is the last person to embody normality - suffering from an unstated form of mental illness and still under medical supervision, she struggles to understand her niece, and to deal with hospital routines in London, a city she has never previously visited. Tricia Kelly as Diane, delicately draws out her subtleties, and Alice Sykes as Daisy is warm and winning and very adolescent.

Responsible Other is an interesting examination of family dynamics that is also directed by Melanie Spencer, and one wonders if she was able to sufficiently step back and be objective. The set is unimaginative and under-used, and Andy Frame as Peter can feel too bullish. The writing of the character conveys his complexities without the need for aggression, but he is directed so he reflects back Daisy's negative views of him - the audience is not trusted to work out the psychological intricacies for themselves. That said, Yetunde Oduwole turns in a very funny cameo performance as Bola, the nurse who befriends Diane on the bench outside St Thomas' Hospital, and Candassie Libund is a sweet Alice.

In conclusion: There's added press interest in the play because Danielle Bux (Mrs Gary Lineker) has a walk on part, but given its brevity it would be unfair to review it. The play itself, a Made By Brick production, works very well in the intimacy of the downstairs studio at Hampstead and with refinements it could do well in a bigger space.

References
Hampstead Theatre, Tickets

Hampstead Theatre, Eton Avenue, London NW3 3EU        Production runs to 20 July