Grounded by Ruth Raynor and Karen Underhill
Alphabetti Theatre – 21st May 2025
Invited| Review by Stephen Stokoe
It was a pleasure to be back at the intimate and welcoming Alphabetti Theatre this evening for Albatross – a new production in association with Albatross Arts. There is always a delightful atmosphere of community and inclusion as you walk into Alphabetti with its welcoming and friendly staff and its comfortable bar-cum-foyer area. As always there was a wide selection of hot and cold beverages to tempt every taste and an assortment of snacks for the peckish.
On entering the stage the audience sees the performance area littered with opened cardboard boxes and a selection of lights suspended from the ceiling giving the impression of a lighting display in a DIY store. Towards the rear of the stage sit two musicians with various stringed and percussion instruments before them. The view makes for an intriguing start to a thoughtful, moving and thoroughly absorbing play.
Katherine (Zoe Lambert) is responsible for the boxes on the stage as she is in the throes of packing up her belongings ahead of her relocation. Katherine is clearly in contemplative mood as she recalls her time living there happy, sad, and downright tragic. To help her with her reveries is the spirit of the house (Christina Berriman Dawson) who morphs seemlessly into the various characters and family members who have influenced Katherine’s world while she has lived there.
The audience is told very early on that Katherine has seen her fair share of emotion in the years preceding this reflection and are guided through some of the more poignant as the play progresses.
Grounded is a very moving piece of theatre exploring a life well lived and experienced but it is also a study in grief which is potentially triggering for audience members. Alphabetti, as always, is cognizant of the topics raised in the production and staff and invited professional are on hand throughout should anyone need advice or further information about the issues covered in the show.
It would have been very easy for the authors of this piece to dwell on the loss and suffering of Katherine who has lost her husband a the particularly difficult time for many – during the global pandemic of 2020. The play touches on the problems people had accessing services and meeting with people, especially in relation to hospitals and care homes. However, there is a hopefulness about Katherine’s reveries – a sheer joy at a life well lived with a man she clearly loved very much and with whom she sired a head strong but equally creative daughter.
The relationship between daughter and mother is also examined with some care and attention. Following the death of her husband there has been an obvious disconnect between the too of them and that journey of understanding and acceptance is beautifully conveyed through the scenes.
In background there is a soundscape provided by Wilf Stone and co-writer Karen Underhill, The melodic nature is provided mainly on guitar but a selection of percussion instruments are used to raise the tensions as the story unfolds. The musicians are used as actors as well although that may only be my interpretation as this is not made explicit.
‘Grounded’ is a cerebral and very personal piece that challenges the mind and senses, and tickles the humour of the viewer almost in equal parts. It is a moving production and rattles along a quite a pace. The performers are engaging and clearly enjoying the story that they are empowered to impart and, like me, I am sure that you may find yourself in the cosy bar after the performance with a great deal to think about concerning what you have just witnessed at Alphabetti Theatre.
‘Grounded’ runs at Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle until May 24th2025 at 1930 with a Saturday matinee on 24th starting at 1430 which is also audio described and a relaxed performance too.