Review: LAVENDER, HYACINTH, VIOLET, YEW, Bush Theatre
Photo credit: Helen Murray
The world premiere of Coral Wylie’s Lavender, Hyacinth, Violet, Yew showcases the force of writing talent emerging from the Bush Theatre. Developed at the Bush Theatre’s Emerging Writers’ Group, this is a warm and gentle play, not without weight behind its poetry, and thorns behind its petals.
Playwright Coral Wylie also stars as Pip, a university drop-out struggling to find their direction in life, not helped by their simultaneous grappling with questions about their gender and sexuality. Pip’s parents Lorin (Pooky Quesnel) and Craig (Wil Johnson) seem - as most Baby Boomer parents seem to their progeny – obtuse and unworldly as they fumble over Pip’s pronouns. But the void of understanding between the generations in this play is bridged when an attic clear-out uncovers a diary belonging to Duncan (Omari Douglas) – an old friend of the family who provides a link to a forgotten queer black history.
This show has a lot to say and gallops through a dizzying string of metaphors and analogies. The horticultural metaphors, for instance, have manifold meaning, which Wylie juggles deftly, unravelling histories of coded queer symbolism.
Wylie’s script does well to avoid languishing and lingering in its own cleverness, and instead sweeps up the audience in its giddy enthusiasm. The script could benefit from some trimming, particularly in the first act which trips you into thinking perhaps this show will plough on without an interval.
But this production is generally well paced under Debbie Hannan’s direction, particularly in the switching between past and present timelines, which is effortless and easy to follow, due in no small part to the character work of Quesnel and Johnson who double as their younger selves – free from the weight of grief and the burden of lives unlived.
There is nothing especially radical or unexpected about this play, which inches a toe towards triteness in certain places. Some of the emotional beats around Duncan’s health decline at the cruel hand of AIDs are easy to predict but sting nonetheless. What is unique about Wylie’s script is the rich imagery and the characters that drive the piece. It is a poignant and tender study of grief, brimming with humanity and vulnerability.
The entire design team, headed up by Max Johns and supported by botanical designer Dan Yeo, deserved their standing ovation for the final onstage transformation which, again, although not the most surprising twist, is a soaring heartfelt moment of real beauty.
Lavender, Hyacinth, Violet, Yew is a tightly bundled bouquet of a play – crafted, considered and full of love. This show will leave you light on your feet and brimming with queer joy.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Livvy Perrett
