Theatre Review: God's Gift, Unity Theatre

Sep 17 2007 by Philip Key, Liverpool Daily Post

Image from God's Gift at the Unity Theatre _180

DRAMAS with surprise endings are always a bit dangerous.

If you can see the surprise coming, such plays lose much of their impact.

The ending of God’s Gift, a new play by Liverpool writers Arthur and Margi Ellison, happily did come as a complete surprise, to this reviewer, at least.

Presented by First Break Productions, a company providing a first professional experience for some of its cast and crew, God’s Gift reveals a family devastated by the 17-year disappearance of the older son.

The play opens as the family gather to greet his unexpected return. Most desperate to meet Gary is Andy, a brother who suspects him of fathering his only son Andrew, despite his wife’s protestations.

Another brother, Tony, suspecting that his youthful indiscretion with his brother’s best friend may have led to that friend’s suicide, is also seeking answers. Mam and young sister Sharon are just as keen to see the prodigal.

There is a lot of anger in the first half, mostly led by Andy, played in loud fashion by Anthony Large. While there is an occasional touch of humour helped by the appearance of the local drunken Catholic priest (Al T Kossy) much of the action is setting up what develops in the second half. There is talk of a brooch, a possible robbery and much speculation of why Gary has not been in touch with the family before. Family secrets start to emerge.

The second half of this fairly short play (little over 90 minutes with interval) allows all the secrets to come out, with Gary doing much of the revealing.

Even the drunken priest has his own secret. And then comes the twist.

Acted at full throttle by the cast of eight with Pat Crawford’s Mam, Anthony Large’s Andy and James Spotforth’s Tony doing most of the emoting, God’s Gift, partly created in rehearsal, is at times an untidy play with too much shouting and too little explanation.

But under Sylvie Gatrill’s direction, with a shoestring budget, the drama does finally come into its own in the second act where matters are resolved and characters finally developed.