SNOWFLAKE
SNOWFLAKE, Good Time Theatrics and JB Theatre Co at the Old Fitz, 6-22 December 2024. Photography by Robert Miniter: above - James Lugton; below - Lilian Alejandra Valverde; below again - Claudia Elbourne and Valverde
First staged in Oxford in 2018, Mike Bartlett’s “Christmas play” Snowflake is a thrilling end-of-year choice for the Old Fitz. It’s set in Oxfordshire, in a church hall, complete with kitchen, ratty electrics, a couple of redundant pews, and a small stage with claret-coloured curtains (delicious design by Soham Apte with comically unromantic church hall lighting by Luna Ng).
And lest you think the title is a cosy reference to the northern hemisphere season of goodwill and all the cuteness associated with gently falling white stuff – no. It’s a pointer to the much tougher play that unfolds: “Snowflake … an informal and offensive term to describe someone who is overly sensitive, easily upset, or expects special treatment.” (Oxford Dictionary).
Andy (James Lugton) is, in his opinion, a nice middle-aged, middle-class widower, whose daughter Maya left home three years prior and hasn’t been in touch since. He’s hired the hall for ten quid and decorated it for Christmas. He’s bewildered as to why she took off and is desperate to see her: a mobile phone continues to accept texts but nothing comes back. She went a few days after discovering he’d voted for Brexit, while she – young adult and EUropean – naturally voted Remain. It can't be that, he reasons, and of course, he’s endlessly reasonable – he believes.
In an extended monologue and beautifully nuanced performance from Lugton we learn he’s discovered she’s back in Oxford. He hopes he might have arranged a meeting, and he’s waiting in what he considers neutral territory – with tinsel – which might help effect a reconciliation. He has mince pies ready to pop in the oven and a surprise behind the stage curtain. And he’s wearing a Christmas jumper while rehearsing what he’ll say and do when Maya turns up.
Instead, however, an irrepressible pest named Natalie (Lilian Alejandra Valverde) arrives. She has come to collect crockery for a Christmas do elsewhere and despite his every effort, Andy cannot get rid of her. She’s like a mouthy limpet but oddly charming and utterly relentless as she gradually winkles out of him far more than he wants her to know. Little by little, without a skerrick of self-awareness penetrating his male assurance, Andy reveals much: “I’m not racist” (oh really?) “I’m not sexist” (mmm-hmm?) And on he blunders, ever deeper into the invisible morass of White privilege, It’s funny, shocking, and embarrassing by turn as the social mirror is turned on the audience by director Jo Bradley.
Bartlett’s play is masterly in revealing the truths behind apparently benign words and actions as two generations confront each other across the handy divide of Britain’s most damaging political schism since the Reformation. Understanding and forgiveness are in short supply. Piquantly, Andy’s pop culture preoccupations, like attempted funnies about Esther Rantzen or Terry and June, are as mystifying to Natalie and Maya as they are – unintentionally – to an Australian audience, such is the speed of social change.
At the same time, there is deceptive simplicity in how Bartlett hears and portrays Andy’s classic inability to shut up and listen, even as he says – over and over – that he's all ears and wisdom. Using Christmas as the flashpoint for this confrontation, as Maya (Claudia Elbourne) makes her late entry into the drama, is extremely effective. At no other time of year is the imperative to love one another and be happy more aggravating or likely to cause the opposite.
What happens, over 105 enthralling minutes, is a series of twists and turns of drama, comedy, and deeply touching connection and disconnection. Snowflake is a generational and political clash yet also palpably human and entertaining. James Lugton is superb as the unlikely hero of dreadful dad-ness, while Claudia Elbourne achieves much in the least generous of the three roles. Biggest surprise, however, is the discovery of a major new talent in Lilian Alejandra Valverde: fresh out of NIDA, and with subtle acting smarts and a north London glottal stop that signal a huge future.
Snowflake is yet more brilliant theatre in an unusually rich end-of-year in Sydney. As usual – don’t miss it.
