Wastwater at Royal Court

Wastwater is a single act plays in three parts…. There is no interval but the play has three distinct scenes and ‘casts’ with just slightly overlapping characters. Everything takes place in locations close to Heathrow airport.

The play opens with Harry (Tom Sturridge) spending his last moments with his foster mother Frieda (Linda Bassett) before he heads off for a new life in Canada. This is a very poignant scene and, to my mind, the best part of the play. Harry and Frieda clearly have warm feelings for each other in a mother and son sense but are never quite able to show those feelings. Linda Bassett captures perfectly the responsible, caring foster mother who wants to hug and shelter buts knows she has to let go, and Tom Sturridge strikes just the right note playing the slightly awkward youth who wants to protect his ‘mum’ (particularly from the evil Sian – more later) but knows he has his own life to lead.

In scene two we meet Mark (Paul Ready) and Lisa (Jo McInnes), who are about to embark on an illicit sexual encounter in a hotel room. Initially Mark appears to be in control of events, but things quickly change as Lisa reveals her past drug addiction and involvement in the porn industry. We also discover that Mark used to teach art to Harry and his young friend before the friend died in a drunken road accident. This is the lightest of the three scenes and there are some rather funny moments, although the scene finale is rather downbeat.

Scene three takes us to a disused store/warehouse and a meeting between Sian (Amanda Hale) and Jonathan (Angus Wright). It soon becomes clear that Sian (and friend Alain) are in the business of arranging illegal immigration of children from the far east, and the uneasy nature of the dialogue in this scene means you are never quite sure why Jonathan wants to ‘adopt’ a young girl. Sian knows the surrounding area well and reminisces of the time she spent with her foster mother, Frieda – returning to her after a failed marriage and staying in daily contact. This was the most unsatisfying part of the play for me as I felt that the control Sian had over Jonathan was never explained.

Wastwater is quite an unnerving experience, as I would expect from the director Katie Mitchell. It is well acted and has terrific sets and is something I would highly recommend.