Door to the past that won't stay shut: Honest Lies at the Albany.
Honest Lies by Jenny Stokes & Dawn Butler, directed by Alison Belbin, A Smiling Eyes Theatre production. On at The Albany Theatre for one night only, 7 March 2025, now on tour.
Review by Annette Kinsella.
Close the door on your past, open the door to your future, goes the old saying. Wise words, but what if the door to the past won't stay shut? What if the wood is crooked and warped, loose at the hinges, and bursts open at the slightest gust of wind? Most of us have felt the struggle of trying to hold back a tide of painful memories, only for them to burst through the cracks. This battle is at the heart of Honest Lies, a new Smiling Eyes Theatre play written and acted by Midlands duo Jenny Stokes and Dawn Butler.
Told through a series of flashbacks, the play opens as Marion (Stokes) is reliving past memories following the death of husband Geoff (Nicholas Baker).
We meet a young Marion (Victoria Tew), at first footloose and fancy free as she negotiates falling in love and then struggling to comprehend her new isolation setting up home as a married mum in the 70s.
The play does not shy away from tough issues like poverty, postnatal depression and psychosis and their treatment in a 20th century world which does not understand these conditions. Stokes shines as the powerhouse matriarch desperately trying to explain her actions to her adult daughter (Butler), whose life is turned upside down through a chance encounter on Facebook which revealed how much of her mother's life was kept hidden. It's never easy to stage a play with dual timelines but the relationship between past and present is handled sensitively, showcasing an era when mental health sufferers were blamed and shamed.The duo is undeniably powerful as the adult family members, but it is when switching roles to side characters like the hairdressing salon staff that their true grasp of stagecraft is evident - their skill in effortlessly switching tone from serious to comic and back again gave the show pace and dynamism.
The story was so emotionally charged and raw it seemed drawn from real life experiences so I looked up the writers - they secured Arts Council funding to stage this show and Stokes, apparently, was a former psychotherapist turned thespian. No wonder the play packed so much of a punch - it should be offered as therapy in postnatal support groups.
Overall this writing and acting pair are a talented twosome to watch out for - Honest Lies proves their ability to produce a play which strikes a chord that lingers long after curtain down.
See what other plays are coming to The Albany: https://www.albanytheatre.co.uk/whats-on/
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