11-Aug-2007

'one of my favourite pieces of theatre I’ve seen this year.Take my advice; beat a path to the Zoo Venues at once to ensure you get your ticket.'

This modern tragedy, translated by Rina Vergano from it's original Dutch, written by Lot Vekermans and first performed in the UK earlier this year, is set in Holland at a Transport café owned by mother, Janet Bamford, and daughter Katalijne, Eugenia Caruso, which has seen better days.
Katalijne has problems, exactly what are not made clear, except at eighteen her mother is still leaving lists for her to follow and making all decisions for her.Regular customer Remco, Adam Best, is the subject of Katalijne infatuation, much to her mother's disapproval, but being a teenager will her daughter listen? Add to the mix money and a knife and the scene is set for the price to be paid by all.
This is a wonderfully powerful play, exceptionally acted by all and is delightfully staged and directed as one is drawn into the complex emotions that are evident throughout.Take my advice; beat a path to the Zoo Venues at once to ensure you get your ticket.

***** FIVE STARS

09-Aug-2007

This production may be normal for Norfolk, but here in Edinburgh it's outstanding.

The phrase 'normal for Norfolk' applies to this exceptional theatre company. Not because they're odd, but because it is generally East Anglia that is graced with their touring presence. This piece of new writing from the Netherlands is so touching and truthful that it is compulsory viewing for anybody with even half a heart. The circular plot, rather than ruining the anticipation, does the polar opposite.

Despite entering the theatre fidgety and distracted, I was fully absorbed by this incredible cast in no more than four minutes. So many of the moments were vivid and touching, Katalijne's fits were so uncomfortable and moving that I genuinely sobbed. This production may be normal for Norfolk, but here in Edinburgh it's outstanding.

Miranda Bryant.

08-Aug-2007

What a great cast the producers have pulled together for this emotionally intense tale...

Truckstop
The Zoo, Edinburgh
What a great cast the producers have pulled together for this emotionally intense tale from Dutch writer Lot Vekemans.
The two women, particularly, bring a gritty realism to their parts as a mother (Janet Bamford) and her autistic daughter Katalijne (Eugenia Caruso) and their expressly routine life running the eponymous truckstop somewhere in the Netherlands.
Adam Best is a young truck driver with a head full of ambition but without the good fortune to back it up who falls for Katalijne and threatens to disrupt their lives. It’s a good performance, but overshadowed by the other two and probably needs a little more gravitas to catch up. Having said that, the three work very well together as an ensemble. Bamford is a very natural actress who flows through scenes giving the impression that she only lives on stage in this character.
But it is Caruso as her daughter who really impresses. Sometimes it is easy, when a character has a well-documented character trait (a strange way of describing autism, but this is a review) to fall into cliche. Caruso, of course, uses ticks and twitches to make her character’s condition easily identifiable, but brings a humanity to the role that would be lacking with less work. She is not just her disability. There is an 18-year-old girl inside and it is the constant battle between the two that drives the play.

Jeremy Austin - The Stage

09-Aug-2007

...with the captivating writing you’d expect from a prize-winning play, combined with skilled direction and delivery, make sure you don’t miss this show.

Emotional thriller
Few people would say parenting is easy and parenting a teenager can be a particularly thankless task, trying to decide when to rein them in and when to let them go. The role of the parent is further complicated when the child is mentally ill. Katalijne and her mother run a trucker’s café called the Truckstop, Remco is a regular visitor, while Katalijne loves Remco and dreams of driving off with him to foreign lands, but Katalijne’s mother has other ideas.
Dealing with parental love, mental illness and the need for change versus the need to stick to what you know, the play also questions whether life is laid out for us or if we have the ability to change our own destiny. Positive it’s not, poignant it is, and with the captivating writing you’d expect from a prize-winning play, combined with skilled direction and delivery, make sure you don’t miss this show.

Nicola Husband.
The List.

27-Jul-2007

Treble Dutch.... a fascinating look at jealousy, illness, ambition, independent and family relationships.

Treble Dutch

A play which starts with broken glass, a knife and three characters describing their own deaths has had a triumphant premier of its English translation in the strange surroundings of a Suffolk aircraft hangar. Adam Best from Holby City stars.

Truckstop was written by Lot Vekemans and translated from the Dutch by Rina Vergano, although the setting remains on a rural lorry route off the tourist trail in the Netherlands.

It was a slightly surreal experience getting to this premiere involving a trip to the far side of the former Bentwaters airbase. The venue - the Hush House - turns out to be a small aircraft hangar with a curved roof which got its name because it was soundproofed for its role of testing jet engines. Three sections of just over a hundred seats surround the performers and when the lights go down you soon forget you're in a building which was probably highly important at the height of the Cold War when the US Air Force were in east Suffolk.

It's a play where the conclusion is given away at the start and then the action unfolds until we come full circle and find out how we got there. It's a short play which clocks in at 75 minutes and is all the better for it. It has a sinister air at the start, as the young pair come into conflict with the girl's mother. Trucker Remco is portrayed as an uncertain man who seems to have thwarted ambitions. He dreams of owning his own truck but seems scared of change, scared of really trying to secure the loan he needs and ultimately scared of adventure. He walks into the Truckstop and the owner's 18 year old daughter Katalijne is lovestruck, much to the horror of her mother. We suspect all is not what it seems with Katalijne and as she undergoes her sexual awakening, the battle between her mother and Remco unfolds, ultimately leading to tragedy.

It's a fascinating look at jealousy, illness, ambition, independence and family relationships. I won't give it away, but there's also a lot of 'back story' that we never find out about. Does Remco's boss Van Dijk have any relationship with Mother? Who was/is Katalijne's father - and is it possible she's a product of incestuous union?

While it's definitely a play where all three characters get equal billing, for me the stand out was Eugenia Caruso who plays Katalijne. She effectively gives the young girl a sense of naivety, awkwardness and sexual longing that explodes on several occasions in the play. Adam Best (who was Matt Parker in Holby City) sticks with his native Irish accent, but plays the character's cards close to his chest so we're never really sure if his intentions towards Katalijne are honourable or exploitative. Janet Bamford plays Mother who's maternal emotions are put through the ringer as her daughter rebels. It's also a very simple yet effective set. It all takes place in the cafe except for a moment at the end where the counter doubles as the cab of a lorry.

Andrew Woodgar

Touring details

The Eastern Angles/Company of Angels production is heading off to The Zoo at the Edinburgh Festival for a month before touring the rest of the country including a return to Suffolk at the Sir John Mills Theatre in Ipswich in September.

06-Aug-2007

A perfect play on the road

Set in a roadside cafe, Truckstop is the story of a mother, her daughter Katalijne and regular customer Remco. The appearance of a knife, and everything changes forever.

Perfectly acted by Janet Bamford as the mother who clings desperately to the past to ensure the future, Eugenia Caruso as Katalijne with an ethereal mix of innocence, vulnerability and inner strength and Adam Best is pitched perfectly as the charming and loveable no hoper.

A poetic and powerful story with faultless direction and production, this is definitely one of this year's hidden gems. Originally perfomed in the Netherlands, the translation to English has managed to keep a foreign feel of the original play while still making it easily accessible to an English speaking audience. With an ominous sense of foreboding, Truckstop takes you on a journey with only one inevitable outcome. Fear, loss, hopelessness and self sacrifice are all milestones on the journey this drama takes you on. A must see this year.

Terry Gilliland

10-Aug-2007

Trucks, rucks and teen love.

Trucks, rucks and teen love.

Pleasance Zoo, Edinburgh.

There is no stench of fry-ups or diesel oil in this haven for truck drivers by the side of a motorway in Holland. But with the distant sound of swooshing tyres, Truckstop unfolds as a captivating tale of maternal love, a young girl's desires and heartbreaking tragedy.

Lot Vekemans is a gifted dramatist, capable of spinning a dark tale and creating punchy characters. Her prize-winning play, seen here in translation by Rina Vergano, takes the form of a thriller in which, early on, the three characters announce their own deaths. But Vekemans manages to keep you guessing as to how the denouement is reached.

Katalijne, earnest, innocent, and brilliantly portrayed by Eugenia Caruso, helps in the Truckstop cafe. Routine is everything to her, though the precise nature of her mental problems is never made clear. Aged 18 she is incapable of making decisions and is prone to explosions of anger.

On to the scene comes feckless trucker Remco, set on seeing the world. Katalijne, smitten, is determined to accompany him at all costs. The costs turn out to be very high as her mother (Janet Bamford) and Remco (Adam Best) battle over her heart and mind.

In Christopher Rolls' well-paced production, it's impossible not to be drawn into this taut web of jealousy, thwarted ambition and family relationships.

Lynne Walker

13-Aug-2007

The Zoo, Edinburgh

What a great cast the producers have pulled together for this emotionally intense tale from Dutch writer Lot Vekemans.

The two women, particularly, bring a gritty realism to their parts as a mother (Janet Bamford) and her autistic daughter Katalijne (Eugenia Caruso) and their expressly routine life running the eponymous truckstop somewhere in the Netherlands.

Adam Best is a young truck driver with a head full of ambition but without the good fortune to back it up who falls for Katalijne and threatens to disrupt their lives. It’s a good performance, but overshadowed by the other two and probably needs a little more gravitas to catch up. Having said that, the three work very well together as an ensemble.

Bamford is a very natural actress who flows through scenes giving the impression that she only lives on stage in this character.

But it is Caruso as her daughter who really impresses. Sometimes it is easy, when a character has a well-documented character trait (a strange way of describing autism, but this is a review) to fall into cliche. Caruso, of course, uses ticks and twitches to make her character’s condition easily identifiable, but brings a humanity to the role that would be lacking with less work. She is not just her disability. There is an 18-year-old girl inside and it is the constant battle between the two that drives the play.

19-Jan-2007

This modern tragedy, translated by Rina Vergano from its original Dutch, was written by Lot Vekemans and was first performed in the UK earlier this year, is one of my favourite pieces of theatre I've seen this year.

Set in Holland at a Transport café owned by mother, Janet Bamford, and daughter Katalijne, Eugenia Caruso, which has seen better days

Katalijne has problems, exactly what are not made clear, except at eighteen her mother is still leaving lists for her to follow and making all decisions for her.

Regular customer Remco, Adam Best, is the subject of Katalijne's infatuation, much to her mother's disapproval, but being a teenager, will her daughter listen?   Add to the mix money and a knife and the scene is set for the price to be paid by all.

This is a wonderfully powerful play, exceptionally acted by all and is delightfully staged and directed as one is drawn into the complex emotions that are evident throughout.

Take my advice, beat a path to the Zoo Venues at once to ensure you get your ticket.

13-Aug-2007

What a great cast the producers have pulled together for this emotionally intense tale from Dutch writer Lot Vekemans.

The two women, particularly, bring a gritty realism to their parts at a mother (Janet Bamford) and her autistic daughter Katalijne (Eugenia Caruso) and their expressly routine life running the eponymous truckstop somewhere in the Netherlands.

Adam Best is a young truck driver with a head full of ambition but without the good fortune to back it up who falls for Katalijne and threatens to disrupt their lives.   It's a good performance, but overshadowed by the other two and probably need a little more gravitas to catch up.   Having said that, the three work very well together as an ensemble. Bamford is a very natural actress who flows through scenes giving the impression that she only lives on stage in this character.

But it is Caruso as her daughter who really impresses.   Sometimes it is easy, when a character has a well-documented character trait (a strange way of describing autism, but this is a review) to fall into cliché.   Caruso, of course, uses ticks and twitches to make her character's condition easily identifiable, but brings a humanity to the role that would be lacking with less work.   She is not just her disability.   There is an 18-year-old girl inside and it is the constant battle between the two that drives the play.

Jeremy Austin