The Peach Season

Previews are really final rehearsals that give the cast, the crew and the director a gauge of audience reaction and the chance to make last minute ‘twitches’. Yet no one in the small preview audience seemed aware of any of this as they were taken in by the very recognizable characters and timeless themes in this production of Debra Oswald’s play about family ties, teenage rebellion, young love and sibling responsibility.

Guiding the audience through the turmoil of this particular ‘peach season’ is Hungarian-born grandmother, Dorothy. This role, part narrator, part nurturer, part counsellor, is played with caring constancy by Jan Mahoney. She engages the audience with wry humour and wise homilies as she introduces characters, expands on situations, comments on the action and moves the scenes along.

Anna Kourouvale and Hannah Montgomery play struggling orchard owner, widowed Celia, and her teenage daughter Zoe. Though Kourouvale came late to the part, she voices the maternal concerns, fears and anguish Oswald has written into this character who shoulders the heavy double burden of provider and parent that is carried by single parents.

This is Hannah Montgomery’s first acting role in community theatre and it is one that requires a range of emotions. Sulky, rebellious, loving, fearless, frightened, Zoe hates being dependent and isolated and longs for company and adventure. It is a demanding role for a young, inexperienced performer and Montgomery is working hard to find all the nuances of the character.

She is at her best in the relationship with blow-in fruit picker Kieran, played with charming effervescence by Julian Floriano. On the run from the police, and muddled by drug taking, Kieran is mesmerized by the pretty teenager, and the tenuous development of their relationship is captured in the naivety of Oswald’s very real dialogue. Floriano’s depiction of Kieran is engaging and natural and brings a lift to the production.

Kieran’s hard, but protective, sister, Sheena is played by Amy Crilley. Though Sheena has taken on the responsibility of harbouring Kieran, she is reluctant and uncomfortable in the role of carer. Crilley shows this with prickly resentfulness and brittle self-control.

The role of Joe, Dorothy’s solicitor son, is played by Brendan Iddles. This character is a sort of ‘father confessor’. It is he who brings Kieran and Sheena, homeless and broke, to the farm to find work and thus save Celia’s peach crop. Yet he himself is suffering the pangs of a failing marriage.

All the strengths and weaknesses of relationships are played out as these six characters eventually find some personal stability – and in doing so reassure the audience of the importance of familial understanding and love.

Carol Wimmer

Our earlier coverage / more detail