Jessie's Tree is a play about remembrance overall, and it encourages its audiences to value love and friendship and to remember others when dealing with grief. Originally written for the Millennium, the play spans four time periods and features a large cast. It is a lengthy one-act play especially suited to festivals thanks to the simplicity of its staging at a single location. Amanda Pearce has worked hard with the young performers on this production and gives many new faces the chance to shine, when they have often provided willing and enthusiastic support for their more experienced peers in previous productions, which meant it was a pleasant surprise to see some new faces truly shine.
The play opens with projected images of WW1, followed by a storm whose lightning strikes the tree of the title, located centre stage in between a crumbling wall. We are told that when the lightning struck it killed the tree but it stood defiant never crumbling or falling down the years, serving a symbol of remembrance. The first scene of the play is set at Christmas 1918 and Jessie is seeking some solace away from her enormous family, but remembering her brother killed in combat two years earlier. She meets Cecil, a privileged boy who has lost the dog he was given as a gift for Christmas as the lead broke and the dog escaped. Like Jessie, Cecil also experienced loss in the war with the death of his father. United in grief, the two become friends and vow to meet again after carving the initials of their lost family members into the bark of the tree. Scarlett Hickson was particularly strong and credible as Jessie, with her ability to speak truth to power across the class divide, and still demonstrate empathy towards the slightly spoiled Cecil. As Cecil, Oli Goodman found himself slightly befuddled when trying to unravel a skipping rope unwilling to return to its proper state but with humour and improvisation, he covered the delay and conquered the problem admirably.
The second scene takes place at the same location almost twenty two years later, as two evacuees named Ralph and Ivy arrive in the village to escape the Blitz on London. Not everyone is particularly keen to meet them however, local children Bob and Margie who we learn are Jessie's children) are there and Bob is up for a fight with the provocative Ralph, who is eager to push his buttons. The girls discuss the nature of remembrance and the significance of the carving on the tree and we learn that Cecil died young , aged 17. Lindon Rising gave a fine account of the easily offended Bob, with the ability to demonstrate and hold the tension in his body as he stared daggers at Ralph played once again by Oli Goodman. Megan Harper made a truly sympathetic Margie, trying to empathise with the evacuees who had to leave everything they had known and the family they loved, to seek safety in the countryside. And as the painfully shy Ivy, Eve Donovan had little to do but her body language conveyed character excellently.
The action moved on to the Summer of 1967, as the young people of the village met at the tree to celebrate the Summer of Love, as hippies were taking over from the mods of the early 60s and flower power was in its earliest stages within the village. Charlie Henderson was the centre of attention as Mike, the wannabe hippie and drug dealer, replete with guitar leading an acoustic singalong of I'm A Believer. His deliberately fake American accent was scripted to make Mike think he appears cooler than his counterparts, but they all saw through him. Pete, a slightly directionless drifter was played by Ben Curtis, Dave by Aaron Parker, Lynn was played by Katie Jackson (stepping in at the last minute to cover a cast illness). Izzy Forman played Sue, Brooke Tucker was Jane and Mya Clarke-Edwards portrayed Lorna. The scene however, revolved around Steve played by Jayden Henfrey. Steve arrives looking depressed which his peers mock until they realise that he is in mourning as his grandmother (Jessie) has died and he wants to come to the tree to see the point at which his grandma had carved her brother's initials. Henfrey gives a sensitive performance and Henderson is devious and manipulative offering Steve drugs to cope with grief. However, for me the scene was stolen by a powerful performance from Clarke-Edwards' Lorna. Her impassioned protection of Steve and dismissal of Mike was tender and strong at the same time and she demonstrated real presence on stage.
The final scene, set around Halloween 1999, saw a party in fancy dress appear at Jessie's tree and Katie Jackson appeared once more, as Jess, the great-granddaughter of Jessie who also recognised the significance of the carved initials on the tree. With most of the performers returning in this scene in alternative roles, we note the return of Katy Jackson, Megan Harper, Eve Donovan, Oli Goodman, Jaydon Henfrey and Lindon Rising. Making her first appearance of the evening, Ella Lloyd stood out as Jo, in her cat costume willing to climb the tree with its new shoots and leaves. Her willingness to throw herself into the role had me wondering, for a moment, if she was actually going to scale the tree somehow. Also making their first appearance of the evening was Luka Allison as Matt in a home-made (deliberately) naff, red devil costume. Allison gave a notable performance as the surly put-upon Matt so often the butt of other's humour, who was just happy to be a part of the proceedings as he tags along with Goodman's Barney.
It was a delight to see so many new faces given a chance to step forward in this production and I have no doubt that several of these performers will very soon be leading larger scale productions for this local company.
Andy Evans 24 June 2024
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