Review: MISS MYRTLE'S GARDEN, Bush Theatre

Miss Myrtle’s garden is an oasis caught in the jaws of gentrification. As her mind starts to go, her grandson Rudy moves in with his “friend” and prods her for answers about their shared past. The generational gap is an abyss of doubt, but is that what’s making it hard for her grandson to be open about his life? Danny James King writes a sophisticated exploration of memory, grief, and identity, which, directed by Taio Lawson (the Bush Theatre’s incoming Artistic Director), becomes a touching, beautiful piece of theatre.

King surrounds the stigma of dementia with lots of breathing space rooted in the unsaid, sweetening uncomfortable truths with surprising circumstantial humour. A finely tuned balance is set up: though frankly hilarious at times, the show bottles up that unbearable wave of sadness you get when you see an old person sitting by themselves.

The cast is vibrant with detail. Miss Myrtle, Diveen Henry, is a no nonsense, hardened woman with a huge heart. King gives her an abundance of iconic one-liners that make her situation even more heartbreaking. Michael Ahomka-Lindsay portrays the discomfort of cumbersome responsibility: Rudy adores his nan, but really struggles with the acknowledgement of what’s actually happening to her.

His boyfriend Jason – a stylist, sunbathing with his Playboy towel and annotated copy of  Dazed – grounds him with a delicately stern touch. Played by Elander Moore, his honesty and integrity are a breath of fresh air. Miss Myrtle’s men, her husband Melrose (Mensah Bediako) and old friend Eddie (Gary Lilburn) are always nearby, pottering around in the garden or sharing a drink, but nothing is what it seems.

Lawson’s reliably sensitive direction comes with an abundance of creativity, transforming very difficult conversations into pure heartbreak. Lawson keeps these twists genuine, the natural progression of emotion. The manifestations of Myrtle’s disease are incredibly moving and it’s further affecting to see Rudy’s refusal to accept them. That’s why Eddie’s kindness, as he plays along with Myrtle’s confusion, hits the way it does.

Lilburn and Henry give their best together, when an electric intellectual intimacy flows between them. Eddie allows Myrtle to take comfort in her memories and lets her lean into him in moments of distress, another source of strife for Rudy. As the characters come to terms with the nature of Myrtle’s issues, the threads join together for a big final moment of reckoning. The story is a very human representation of the life of many.

Khadija Raza’s gorgeous design adds to the authenticity of the production, with real plants being set into soil and a large circle of turf being encased in cold slabs of concrete. Evocatively lit by Joshua Gadsby – who has the power of making even blackouts soft – Miss Myrtle’s Garden is a triumph of emotion. It’s funny and sad where appropriate, jolting where it needs to be. It could do without an interval, which doesn’t add much to the tension, but it’s otherwise accomplished.

Miss Myrtle's Garden runs at the Bush Theatre until 12 July.