REVIEW: CANDLESTICKS by Deborah Freeman at White Bear Theatre until 15 October 2022

‘mature ensemble piece with strong performances’ ★★★

If only Louise’s daughter had returned with a fridge magnet or keyring after travelling in Peru, but no, Jenny comes bearing a newly found faith in Christianity. On the eve of Passover and in the opening scene of CANDLESTICKS, this shock revelation in a traditionally Jewish household is the inciting incident for an hour and a half of conflict and theological reflection. These moral dilemmas and spiritual wrangles are offset by their relationship with another closely entwined family. Julia and her son, Ian, represent the secular world, a life without religious baggage. The mothers are best friends and their offspring, childhood sweethearts, but can these precious relationships survive the new world order and inter-generational shifts?

While religious beliefs provide the central theme of this piece, it’s how these value systems ricochet between the four key players that give this mature ensemble piece its heart and drive. With strong casting, each of the characters is forced to examine their own choices; feelings of guilt and betrayal bubble up as they ask searching questions about the boundaries of their tolerance, empathy, understanding and love while issues of anti-Semitism and Middle-Eastern politics are flaming touchpoints.  “Who invented guilt?” asks Louise, the Jewish mother, played with wry intelligence by Mary Tillett. Newly born Christian, Jen hopes Ian is marriage material, but her Peruvian gift of a dried llama’s womb may be a foreshadowing. He too is floundering, unsure of his direction, seeking something to fill a vacuum. Despite her best efforts, Julia who has steered respectfully clear of religion still manages to be pulled into the quagmire.

Directed by Jenny Eastop and produced by Mercurius, this is the first revival of Candlesticks since the early 1990s. Writer, Deborah Freeman received an Arts Council writing bursary in 1993 and since then, the world has changed dramatically.  In between we’ve had a 9/11, global terror attacks and Islamophobia. All have bought into sharp relief the idea that religion can be a fragmenting, dividing force as well as a unifying one and Candlesticks echoes this. While religion can bring clarity and purpose, it’s rituals offering solace and community, it can also divide and mark out differences, some deep and irreparable. Each religion bears its own blind-spots and to some degree, they are interchangeable. The silver candlesticks of the play’s title are the first object we see and symbolise the importance of tradition and cultural heritage. They too take their own circular journey with their own reveal along the way. As an exploration of personal faith, human bonds and identity, Candlesticks is an intelligent work with perennial questions at its core.

Images by: Lidia Crisafulli

CANDLESTICKS by Deborah Freeman

White Bear Theatre

27th September – 15th October, 2022

Box Office: https://www.whitebeartheatre.co.uk/whatson/Candlesticks



Directed by Jenny Eastop

Cast

James Duddy – Ian

Sophie McMahon – Jenny

Kathryn Worth – Julia

Mary Tillett - Louise

Reviewed by Nilgin Yusuf

Nilgin recently graduated from a four-year Creative Writing degree at Birkbeck, where she discovered a dormant appreciation for theatre, scriptwriting and stagecraft. An experienced author, lecturer and journalist (ex-Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph and ELLE) Nilgin is developing her first full-length stage play, supported by Mrs.C’s Collective and the Arts Council.