Following successful runs in Oxford and at the Edinburgh Fringe, Cleopatra Coleman’s off-beat comedy Window Seat has found a London home for three days at the Canal Café Theatre.
The two hander follows mum Trix (Helen Rose-Hampton) and daughter Lois (Maud May) as they board a flight to Florence. While the plane sits on the tarmac, they discuss everything and nothing, but each clearly has something to get off her chest.
Coleman’s dialogue is slick and natural, with mother and daughter riffing off each other with ease as they circle around the larger issues at play. In a little under an hour, the audience is given a snapshot into their lives and those of a cast of supporting characters unseen, but nonetheless fleshed out.
Trix is facing an empty nest, wanting to support her children without always approving of their choices and considering whether to age gracefully or seek cosmetic help. Lois has recently graduated and is looking to make her way in the world, while also navigating the differing choices some of her peers are making.
Both actresses embody their characters perfectly, and have believable chemistry as mother and daughter. Their mutual exasperation at the divide between their experiences, and the love that undercuts it are both palpable throughout.
This is a play which naturally suits a fringe setting, requiring only a pair of airline seats as staging and allowing the material and the performances instead to fill the stage.
A small but mighty production, Window Seat is a beautiful examination of a mother-daughter relationship which is sure to resonate with audiences.
Window Seat runs at Canal Café Theatre until 18th December.
★★★★☆ (4*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Jess Shurte
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