Reviews

SKILFULLY adapted from Sheila Stewart's novel, Ramlin Rose, this excellent one-woman show tells the tale of Rose, a boatwoman on the Oxford canal - once an important freight route from the Midlands to the South.

Set between the end of the First World War and the end of the Second, when the canals briefly thrived before their final swansong in the 1950s, A Boat's Yer Whole World is a love story between Rose and her husband, Siah (Josiah), and also between her and the river that is both home and livelihood. Love sustains the couple and helps them to survive years of intense hardship and suffering on the open water - aptly, one of their boats is named The Perseverance.

Kate Saffin is utterly convincing in the role of Rose and manages the Talking Heads-style 40-minute monologue authoritatively. There is no set and no action: everything is dramatised through Rose's reminiscences, a task that would daunt a lesser actress but a challenge to which Saffin is more than equal, merely making good use of the props box and using every inch of the snug stage that is available to her.

As an actress she has a great range, for the part of Rose demands that she is at one moment comic, the next lewd, the next tragic. That there is one occasion when the series of calamities that befall Rose becomes too incredible for pathos is not her fault and this unfortunate flaw in the script is rescued by the happy ending.

**** Scotsman Aug 8th 2005

Ed Fringe website: audience reviews

  A Gem 11 Aug 2005
reviewer: 3 Caballeros, UK

This is a little gem, brilliantly performed, moving and really evokes what it must have been like to live on narrow boats

  A boat's yer whole world 17 Aug 2005
reviewer: RB, uk

Delightful collection of moving, true stories about the hard life of a canal boatwoman. Beautifully portrayed in a clever, all-too-short production. Recommended

  Rose in my opinion 26 Aug 2005
reviewer: Adrian Tupper, UK

I went along because I saw the reviews and I like canals. The room was nearly full, but that was still only about 25 people. But I much prefer these intimate venues in any case. It started very promptly and rather tamely. One actress telling a story. A bit clichéd in places (you could see the disasters coming) but, thankfully, it wasn't one of those shows that tries to leave you feeling guilty for having such a quiet life. When the show finished I realised that I'd spent much of the time totally absorbed in the gentle yet presumably gripping story. I also felt good and indeed relieved that s story of a tough life doesn't have to be a totally unhappy one.

Links

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