Reviews
Broadway World Review
Grow Up Grandad, by British writer Gordon Steel, is a modest play, sentimental without being mawkish, and in Warren McKenzie's direction fits neatly on the Domain Theatre stage. Mackenzie's small cast fits neatly into the story.
As Poppy, in the program Poppy Senior, looks back thirty years, we meet her fourteen-year-old self being collected from school, not by her mother, to whom she's devoted, but by her grandfather. Where is her mother? That's a mystery to be unfolded. The audience already has a suspicion.
Young Poppy stages a scene at the school gates, calling out that this old man is trying to abduct her. She's a clever little minx indeed. She hates her Grandad's house. It smells, like him, of old things. Since his wife died, he's simplified domesticity. He has no television, no internet. He has jigsaw puzzles. When he invites Poppy to assemble one with him, she firmly turns him down. She'll never do a jigsaw puzzle with him. Spoiler alert; the jigsaw puzzle is a mega-metaphor.
Enter two other characters. Poppy's aunt Margaret has flown up to Newcastle. She's a brittle, stylish woman who has left her past behind. She's now on her local Council as a, gasp, horror, Conservative. The other woman is the Social Worker. Apparently, there to help, you get a strong sense she wants to rescue young Poppy as a project.
We are told that Poppy's mother was killed by a car. She was out shopping, and the accident occurred. Poppy is not allowed to join Grandad at the funeral.
Playwright Steel builds much humour into the story. There's a really funny sequence when the pair go roller skating, and we see and hear that Grandad can't roller skate and can fart noisily. It's a fun and farcical moment.
Let's talk about the actors, shall we? Zoe Battersby is spot on as Young Poppy. She's just fifteen as it is, but this is an auspicious debut. Malcolm Walton is beautifully cast as Grandad, caring and irascible. He shields Poppy from the truth. Linda Lawson carries off an impressive double as Poppy Senior and the Tory-voting Aunt Margaret. Kaitlyn Meadows is Genevieve, the social worker, and you do get the sense of her devious nature. There are also, at least to my ears, some very effective Geordie accents on display.
In the second half of the play, we are up to date with Poppy Senior's timeline. She's brought Grandad on holiday to a nice hotel with a comfortable armchair. It's pretty clear that his dementia has set in and he's being moved into care. The set splits down the middle, with Grandad's lounge on one side, and the blue and yellow care ward on the other. Malcolm Walton moves from one to the other, timeline to timeline, mental state to mental state, with great skill. We finally learn the truth about Poppy's mother's death, and Steel adds another twist, putting the story we have watched unfold, into a new perspective.
Finally, as the lights go down, Poppy joins him doing what her younger self vowed would never happen. You've guessed it, doing a jigsaw puzzle with her Grandad.
I found there was much to identify with in this play; the challenge of dealing with parental dementia for one thing, but early in the play Grandad gives his opinion that young tearaways and thieves shouldn't be taken to court. He'd just shoot them outright. I've been saying that for quite a few years.
Reviewed by Ewart Shaw, Thursday 26th October 2023.
GLAM Adelaide Review
George Bernard Shaw once said: "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place". If there is one way to summarise the reflectiveness of the play, it would be this quote.
Written by Gordon Steel and directed by Warren Mckenzie, this is an intergenerational story about kinship care. Themes raised include caregiving responsibilities, family dynamics, relationships, emotional support, alcoholism, family values and guidance.
Primarily it is about two people, Grandad (Malcolm Walton) and Poppy (Zoe Battersby as the young version, Linda Lawson as the older Poppy) however it also speaks to the audience about the rest of the family. When Poppy is one day picked up by her Grandad at school, both of their lives are forever changed.
The relationship of the pair is turbulent however much love exists despite it all. Most of the time it is Grandad trying to find common ground, only to be constantly defied by Poppy. After all, Poppy has, without warning, suddenly been placed into the care of her Grandad, who her mother had openly disliked. She misses her mother and does not want to be there. Although social worker Genevieve (Kaitlyn Meadows) is there to help the pair with the change, the circumstances themselves are challenging regardless of their existing connection.
Malcolm Walton was so authentic in his performance. His ability to be loving and emotionally disconnected, sorrowful and frustrated, as well as thoughtful and pragmatic was so believable. He was the quintessential grandad of that generation.
Something I really noticed in this play, which is often overlooked, is the stage setting. The production design concept is credited to Warren McKenzie, with set design by James Allenby, Kym Clayton, and Trisha Graham. Not only was it a work of art in transporting the audience back in time to the era that Grandad grew up in (for example, the use of an antimacassar on his chair) but it supported the narrative with its practicality.
In Act II, the cleverness of the construction is truly revealed, as the two backdrops work seamlessly to smoothly transition the audience visually to Grandad's flashbacks, as he relives the events from thirty years earlier.
This is an outstanding play brilliantly delivered and will make you cry, shed a tear and reflect. There is something in this play for everyone.
Reviewed by Rebecca Wu
Theatre Association of SA (TASA) Review
"Grow Up Grandad" is a poignant and heartfelt journey brought to life by a cast of four actors, who skilfully portray a total of six distinct characters. The play, expertly directed by Warren McKenzie, weaves a tale of intergenerational relationships and the challenges that arise when young Poppy, finds herself under the care of her cantankerous grandfather.
The play, beautifully written by Gordon Steel, strikes a perfect balance between moments that tug at your heartstrings and those that leave you in fits of laughter. Poppy (Zoe Battersby) and Grandad (Malcolm Walton) showcase the multifaceted dynamics of family life. The pacing and timing in the production are praiseworthy, allowing the audience to truly immerse themselves in the moment, appreciating the pauses and tempo that add depth to the performance. However it's worth noting that on one or two occasions, the actors didn't allow for the audience's laughter to subside before the next lines were delivered, which resulted in some missed moments of dialogue.
Zoe Battersby, as Young Poppy, brings bravado and sassiness to her character, delivering a wonderfully mischievous look on those occasions when she sets up Grandad. In fact, her facial expressions and body language throughout provide an exceptional depth and authenticity to her character, enhancing the believability and credibility of her performance. It is also worth noting that Zoe's ability to play two characters, as she does with Poppy and Molly, is a challenging feat, and she accomplishes it admirably.
Malcolm Walton, in his role as Grandad, adeptly portrayed a range of emotions, from seething anger and frustration to deep-seated fear and genuine love, all of which added rich layers to his character's portrayal. He embodied the cantankerous exterior and contrasting soft interior of his role beautifully. Walton's seamless transition between the younger and older versions of the character was well executed.
Linda Lawson as Aunt Margaret and Poppy Senior and Kaitlyn Meadows as social worker Genevieve delivered strong performances in their respective roles. There was careful attention to detail shown in distinguishing Aunt Margaret and Poppy Senior through costuming, wigs, and nuanced acting by Lawson. The execution of synchronised speaking by the Senior Poppy and Young Poppy was a highlight.
Under Warren McKenzie's direction, the soliloquies seamlessly integrated into the scenes, preserving the natural flow of the play. His innovative staging and stage design by James Allenby, Kym Clayton and Trisha Graham allowed for the parallel presentation of two distinct settings on either side of the stage. In Act 2 this was notably effective in transporting the audience between the past and the present, separated by 30 years.
The technical aspects of the production are impressive, and the music, chosen with care, effectively conveys the era and complements the storytelling. The lighting design, courtesy of James Allenby, adds to the visual richness of the play, creating a compelling contrast, particularly in Act 2.
"Grow Up Grandad" resonates with a modern audience, as it delves into the challenges many families face, such as grandparents taking on parental responsibilities and dealing with the complexities of ageing and dementia. The clash of cultures, symbolised by jigsaws, Val Doonican records, and Poppy's lack of familiarity with LPs and record players, adds depth to the narrative.
In conclusion, "Grow Up Grandad" is a compelling production that balances the emotional and humorous aspects of life's complexities, delivering a performance that is both relatable and thought-provoking. It's a play that you will enjoy and will have a memorable impact on you - very entertaining.
Reviewed by Terry Mountstephen
The Adelaide Show
Grow Up Grandad by Gordon Steel, is a thoughtful, heart wrenching and hilarious play with a terrible title.
Having watched opening night of Galleon Theatre Group's production at the Domain Theatre in Marion last night, this critic despairs that some audience goers might dismiss it as a goofy, light weight, children-friendly comedy.
It is not.
Grow Up Grandad is an emotional story of clumsy, tragic, and well-meaning communication between a grandad (Malcolm Walton) and his granddaughter, Poppy (Zoe Battersby) over the course of three decades.
The playwright has carefully crafted his poignant observations of life and familial relationships in a deftly constructed format of two acts with a healthy serving of symmetry; a particularly exchange between granddaughter and grandad in one act, finds itself repeated in reverse in the second.
Through this device and some very dry and wry humour, Grow Up Grandad delivers an evening of guffaws punctuated by some gasps and a few moments of tears.
We meet Poppy being picked up from school by her grandad unexpectedly, on behalf of her mum. This is an unusual forging of oil and water because the grandad, we learn, is not the warmest of humans and a "14 year old" is not necessarily equipped for being thrust together with someone old and potentially "reputation denting". As the mum's absence continues, the two protagonists have little choice other than to learn how to coinhabit until the arrival of "womanhood" in Poppy's body nudges grandad out of his comfort zone, into the realisation that maybe this young girl needs a mother figure and more age appropriate guardianship. So off she goes, only to reunite 30 years later when some open questions are painfully confronted and answered amid the incessant circularity of life. If ever a sitting room play was ever worthy of Milan Kundera's iconic title, this play is because it excruciatingly examines "the unbearable lightness of being" in a domestic setting.
While Malcolm Walton displays excellent timing and pathos with the delivery of some of his quips, and transitions well in the second act between scenes as the elderly grandad and his 30 year junior version of himself with aplomb, the haunting and enduring memories of this production were mercurially produced by Zoe Battersby. This young actor completely embodied every nuance of what it is to be 13 going on 14 in challenging circumstances. Just moments after the awkwardness of the opening scene at the school gates, Battersby soon endeared her character to us with a consummate display of vulnerability, mischief, fear, frustration, and sadness. Her performance was a wonderful study of a teenager and it must be seen. In fact, if there are any vacant seats for the remainder of this season, this critic will take it as an affront to theatre itself.
This Galleon Theatre Group production is a bold undertaking for a community theatre group. This play demands much of its two principal actors, who must convey the many, many subtle threads in this story amid numerous moments of conflict and unrequited displays of tenderness. On opening night, there were some scenes played more tentatively than planned but having successfully passed the test of opening night, the on-stage chemistry is will just keep getting tighter and tighter.
Linda Lawson's Senior Poppy (the older version of the granddaughter), is played in a rigid, more two dimensional style, either full hysteria or calm. This could be an insight from director, Warren McKenzie, suggesting the place in life Poppy has arrived in, having navigated the emotional ravages of her journey. Social worker, Genevieve (Kaitlyn Meadows), is a diminutive figure, drawn into the play by Steel as the catalyst and facilitator of Poppy's transition from "orphan" to foster child.
Warran McKenzie's production design concept is perplexing at first before being revealed fully in the second act and, altogether, works well. It facilitates some nimble flashback scenes in the second act, nicely enriched by James Allenby's lighting design and operation. Set, props and costumes were all perfectly rendered and sound design just worked.
Grow Up Grandad by Galleon Theatre Group is a disarmingly real story, earnestly played. It provides a satisfying night out to support and enjoy community theatre.
Reviewed by Steve Davis
