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Limbo

Published Monday 22 October 2007 at 11:30 by Kevin Berry

Caroline Williamson steps into a narrow spotlight and holds the attention for 60 minutes - just her voice and a soundtrack of moving water.

Williamson plays Claire, a 17-year-old girl working in a meat factory in Newry, Northern Ireland. But rather than playing Claire, she convinces the audience she is Claire because her performance is that good. Moreover she acts without breaks and without much movement.

She recounts her relationship with a married man who is twice her age and then with the love of her life. Sadly she is pregnant by the former.

This role marks Williamson’s stage debut. It is an impressively understated performance, poignant but never depressing, cheery whenever there is a glimmer of hope.

If asked Williamson would be able to recount any day in the life of Claire because this is the nature of the Real Circumstance company’s theatre style - a thorough study of people and the places they inhabit.

Declan Feenan’s writing is measured and carefully wrought. The details may appear trivial but they mean so much and they are so personal. The language he uses may seem everyday but, again, it says so much about Claire and the people in her world.

Claire is standing by the dark waters of Camlough Lake when the hour comes to an end. Her married man cannot see her again. Support is ebbing away. What will she do next?

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