A real coup is the casting of the terrific Maria Friedman (aged 66, herself) as Kimberley. Still beautiful, she looks wonderfully at ease and natural in her role as the teenager undergoing a unique life experience – but so far for only 15 years of it.
Another unexpected joy – and challenge – is the twists and turns of a plot that doesn’t simply revolve around age and time. Designer Sutra Gilmour’s miraculously versatile set opens at an ice-skating rink, Skating Planet, a magnet for New Jersey teenagers. And although Kimberley is right there in her skates, at the centre of the action is Seth, a fellow student at her high school, whose job, part-time in name and pay only, is to be the ‘man of all work’ at the rink. He hires out lockers, expertly fits skates, sells snacks and is master of the loudspeaker system that carries warnings and instructions. Gilli Jones’ Seth is convincingly all knowing and self-assured. On top of that, he’s a tuba-playing, Elvish-speaking Tolkien fan.
In a telling glimpse of Kimberley’s home life, her barely thirty-something dad, Buddy (Peter Hannah) is an alcoholic and can’t be depended upon to even pick her up from college on time; while her very pregnant mum, Pattie (Niamh Perry), records a song on video ‘Hello Darling’ to the baby “in my belly”, that is full of personal revelations. Meanwhile Kimberly’s rogue Aunt Debra (Alice Fearn) is trying to move into the family home, armed with a crazy plan for stealing cheques.
