HOUSE MOTHER NORMAL (New Perspectives/Brighton Festival)***

 

By Cal

Link: https://brightonfestival.org/whats-on/house-mother-normal-online-3112

Available until: 31^st May. You’ll be sent a link shortly before 8pm on the day of the booked performance. You’ll have access for 48 hours. Captioned version is available.

It is incredibly brave to produce a play such as this in current times, but it is a decision I completely support and, if anything, the production might be a little overdue.

It serves as a timely reminder that, in a time when we are rightly celebrating the bravery of many people currently involved in the caring profession, that not everyone in this sort of job cares and that some very vulnerable people are actively being abused and bullied.

House Mother Normal is set in a care home and features eight residents and one member of staff. The play follows them throughout an evening, as the member of staff talks them through her plan for the evening, with all residents expected to participate fully. The story first appeared in 1971 as a novel written by B. S. Johnson. It has here been developed into a play by Tim Crouch and presented on Zoom.

The House Mother brings the residents together with a planned programme of events to hold their attention and entertain them. If this was done in a positive way, I would completely approve of it. However, the House Mother is abusive and cruel, both verbally and physically. She tries to force them to eat food which she admits is of poorer quality than the food she gives to her dog. She tells them off for not paying proper attention. She shows an almost complete lack of care and empathy which is rather upsetting to watch.

There seems to be little in the way of plot or character development, but I think that’s part of the point. The lives of the residents are stagnant. Nothing happens. No-one visits them. Horrible things happen to them every day, but nothing will ever change. If they speak out, it is unlikely they would be believed. It would be so good to say that this is a thing of the past; that residents are listened to, but this is not always the case. So many people who are seen as needing additional care needs are treated as second-class citizens and because of that, they have no voice to protest against anything they see as unfair. They are merely told it’s all for their own good and that nobody is doing anything wrong; on the contrary, they are being treated with the greatest kindness and they should be grateful.

Of course, this is not the experience of everyone with additional care needs. There are many who are treated kindly and who are genuinely happy, but if this is happening even in one care home, it is one too many.

I haven’t read the book this play is based on, but I think Tim Crouch’s adaptation does a good job of capturing the fear and uncertainty of the residents, as well as the sadness. The residents aren’t perfect and there are some moments of genuine humour; some moments when we almost slip into the belief that living in the care home might actually be quite fun, but soon the House Mother is back with some unacceptable words or action that causes the feeling of horror all over again.

House Mother Normal is quite complicated to listen to and I’d be inclined to recommend watching the versions with captions. Throughout the play, the characters are all talking at once, but there is usually one we are supposed to be listening to and it is not always obvious who that should be if you’re watching without captions. The captions appear on the actors’ individual screens so it is clear from that where our focus needs to be and that’s really helpful in ensuring we don’t miss anything important.

It’s quite difficult to know who the individual characters are as names are used rarely and it’s not always clear who they’re being applied to, but the nice thing about Zoom is that you do get a good view of everyone’s faces and that makes a google image search much easier. I hope I haven’t got anyone wrong. Sharon Morgan provides one of the emotional highlights as Rosetta as she speaks movingly of someone whom she wishes would visit. Cleo Sylvestre gives Gloria lots of spirit, which is good to see in an institution where many will have the spirit crushed out of them. Pip Donaghy’s Charlie is very likeable as well as being a sympathetic character, as they all are and it’s easy to see why Marsha Millar’s Ivy seems to be the troublemaker – but I like that. Good for her.

But it is the House Mother, played by Amelda Brown, who is at the centre of the story (and the screen) and it is a horrifying, deeply disturbing and brilliant performance. Her domineering nature and her cruelty come across very strongly and it is genuinely worrying waiting to see what she will say and do next.

House Mother Normal is a very disturbing horror story – and also a very important warning of what might be going on behind closed doors.