My Heart's a Suitcase
is about fear and greed. Two women in their early thirties, Chris (Frances
Barber) and Hannah (Sylvestre le Touzel), mates from university, arrive in a
run-down flat in Brighton for a weekend. The flat belongs to Colin, once
Chris's boyfriend; now a businessman, he frequents the restaurant where she is
a waitress.
Chris, recently badly scared by a young man who pulled a gun
on her in a railway carriage, is neurotic and restless. She wants more cash but
hates the rich. Hannah doesn't care about money: she works as a ceramics
teacher, lives in a housing association flat, and keeps a stiff upper lip about
her multiple sclerosis.
The play is a brilliantly written comparison of the women,
with four other characters in small roles. Two of these are naturalistic – a
tramp (Fred Pearson), who has been dossing in the flat, and Tunis, Colin's wife
from Greece, who turns up to do some serious shopping (an excellent cameo from
Anna Patrick). The other two are imaginary figures. The man from the train
periodically appears to plague Chris, and for much of the play Luggage, a
female patron saint of coping, sits on the stage, occasionally making
conversation or carrying bags for the others.
Luggage is unnecessary and intrusive, and there are times
when the pace of the play flags disappointingly. But otherwise this exploration
of how we respond to a hostile society should do much to reinforce Mclntyre's
reputation as an original talent. It should also advance the careers of Barber
and le Touzel, both of whom are superb. In short, catch it if you can.
