Review: The Children, Lyric Hammersmith ★★★

When the world has been broken by your generation, should you have to save it? This is the central question of The Children by Lucy Kirkwood which has been revived at the Lyric Hammersmith. First performed in 2016, and inspired by events at Fukushima, it is set in a post-disaster coastal England.

Gary McCann’s set immediately places us in a kind of liminal space. At ground level, we are in a cosy cottage with mismatched mugs, seventies curtains and old church pews. It looks like a holiday home that has been in the family for generations and no-one ever quite managed to throw anything out. Above this looms an industrial, circular power station that completely overshadows the cottage; outside the doors is a smoky, hazy atmosphere. This omnipresence of the factory and the toxic air represents the lives that a retired husband and wife are now living, just outside the exclusion zone but every choice dominated by it.

Hazel (Meera Syal) and Robin (Declan Conlon) have been married for years, are parents to four, but were colleagues at the factory. Day-to-day life is an exercise in survival. Electricity is unreliable, water must be bought, their home is in ruins. But they have carved out a stable balance of “yoga and yoghurt” and within the extraordinary are trying to live an ordinary life. The couple are charming company and this is all pleasant enough fare.

Into this stunted peace waltzes former colleague Rose (Kerry Fox). Her past dalliances with Robin, workplace frustrations and former lifestyle choices play out in the manner of a catch-up. As a three-hander, this works well and the chemistry between the three is enjoyable viewing. However, it takes a long time before we find out why she is really there.

Finally, her real mission becomes clear. She feels that former power station staff, who are elderly, have a duty to return to the power station and fix what they can. A form of atonement, so that those at the end of their lives will not cause those at the beginning of theirs to have them shortened by radiation.

There are real-world parallels to this idea. The Skilled Veterans Corps for Fukushima was founded after that disaster and campaigned, with ultimately less access than they hoped for, to be able to play a role in post-disaster maintenance. Founder Yasuteru Yamada said at the time, “Young people with a long future should not have to be placed in a position of having to undertake such a task.” Yamada reunited with old friends via Twitter and email in the way that Fox’s character is doing here.

This debate about responsibility and sacrifice between generations is the unique heart of this play but is given less time than it deserves. While some of the domestic details (parsnip wine brewing and salad making) and perhaps even the workplace affairs are needed to flesh out the characters, I would have preferred more time spent grappling with this ultimate choice. Hazel’s character, in particular, barely has time to catch her breath and it seems unlikely the decision would really have had to have been made with such extreme urgency.

Images credit: Helen Maybanks

How to Save on tickets at Lyric Hammersmith

Check out my article on Lyric Hammersmith discounts for young West Londoners. People who live or work in Hammersmith and Fulham can also get free tickets for First Nights.

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