Review: Mabel at Gala Theatre, Durham

“…Madeleine Carter’s Mercutio commanded the stage…”

Mabel by Madeleine Carter, Gala Theatre, Durham

By Kay Wilson

I love a piece of pre-show performance that engages your interest before a play begins. This Sisu Theatre production, Mabel, had an almost empty set with a small, puppet dog centre stage, 10 minutes before the opening scene. It looked alive and gave unnerving eye contact to everyone as they sat down in the auditorium. The animal’s movement and facial expressions were really well done and had the audience intrigued.

Beyond the dog, the set itself was a stripped-back black canvas with two boxes used to represent beds and chairs, the occasional dry ice, and flickering lights brought in to be indicative of Mercutio’s mental state. The use of minimalism seemed fitting as I read that Sisu Theatre is a female-led company that specialises in new writing with a focus on environmental conservation, mental health and community enrichment.

Then, the play, billed as being an intimate exploration of the final moments of Mercutio, one of Shakespeare’s most compelling characters, began. Australian actress Madeleine Carter, also artistic director, marched down through the audience to the stage, capturing the swaggering confidence of our charismatic hero, Mercutio. Moments later, we saw him getting shot, and the audience was unsure if he was dead or alive. Soon we realised he was seeing visions of Queen Mab — the titular character and ‘fairies’ midwife’ described by Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, responsible for helping to birth people’s dreams.

It was from this point that I confess I was pretty lost by the play’s plot. I think the action that followed was all in his mind as he drifted between life and death. The play is set in contemporary time, with references to record players, pick-up trucks and shootings. Mercutio dreams he has a relationship with Mabel who becomes pregnant but loses the baby. He also lusts after Juliet. He tussles with Romeo and is frustrated by his infatuation for Juliet. Despite all of that, there is a clear depiction of the affection both men have for each other. The scene where Mercutio being shot is reprised at the end of the play and is both dramatic and attention grabbing.

That said, the audience had to do a fair amount of heavy lifting in interpreting what was going on, and the script was tricky to follow. Much of that difficulty, I suspect, comes down to familiarity: to get the most out of this performance, and the huge amount of work that must have gone into the production, it would be beneficial to have a good knowledge of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. There were several scenes where the script seemed to include speeches from the original text, and no doubt had insights that were lost on me.

The play had committed performances throughout. Vilma Kitula did well with her various secondary character portrayals, and, likewise, Madeleine Carter’s Mercutio commanded the stage. Romeo, played by Vilma Kitula, also acted as the highly skilled puppet master.

Mabel plays at Gala Theatre Durham until 02 August. Tickets are available here.

Kay Wilson is a North East-based writer. She won Runner-Up in the Self-Published category at the Comedy Women in Print awards for her debut novel, The Stand-Up Mam. It was inspired by her own experience of performing comedy for two years and charts the adventures of a perfect mother who does stand-up. It transforms her but blows up family life. Described as ‘hilarious and heart-warming’, signed copies can be bought at The Bound bookshop, Whitley Bay. The novel is also available on Amazon here. Kay has a website which promotes extraordinary women and gives updates on her writing life.