Drury’s postmodern play does feel rather like a manifesto made flesh. But it also makes a genuine effort to give us a multifaceted Mary, in all her pain and glory. Instead of a saint or a distant historic figure, she becomes a vivid figure who we must grapple with to make sense of our lives today.
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The play makes its bigger point about the racial outsourcing of care for the sick, elderly people and children through satire...It also leaves us with a sense that the figure of Mary Seacole is a vehicle used to explore our current-day issues too nakedly rather than a study of a singular life and its forgotten achievements.
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Nonetheless, it does nothing to detract from the fact Drury is one of the most fascinating US playwrights out there. Even her failures would probably have more ideas than most other playwrights’ successes, and ‘Marys Seacole’ is a long way from a failure.
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What holds the piece together, apart from the sheer questing intelligence of the writing, is Latif's controlled direction and a performance of extraordinary range and power from Meikle. Both dignified and comic, doubting and assured, her kindly, thoughtful presence gives this bold, brilliant play its centre and its emotional heart.
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But there's no denying that Latif, Meikle and their colleagues do a challenging play proud, and that the plural of the title will surely encourage renewed attention, and compassion, towards the Marys Seacole around us in our world right now.
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It feels as if Drury is a draft away from finding the perfect way to make Seacole’s story both literal and metaphorical in the way she wants to, but this is an ambitious evening that lingers in the memory even so.
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It’s an all female cast – note the plural “Marys”, an allusion to black nurses, mother/daughter relationships and the nature of care-giving – anchored by the utterly fantastic performance of Kayla Meikle playing Mary Seacole...Despite the frustratingly opaque storytelling, Marys Seacole is really worth a look.
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Déja J Bowens makes a confident professional debut as Mamie. Meanwhile, Kayla Meikle steps into her first leading role with the wise energy beyond her years.
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