FringeReview Scotland 2024

The Brenda Line

Pitlochry Festival Theatre

Genre: Comedic, Drama, New Writing

Venue: The Traverse

Festival: FringeReview Scotland

Low Down

Review

Harry Mould’s debut play is  a finely balanced play that probes and challenges our preconceptions without telling us what to think – and is all the better for that. Loosely based on their mother’s experiences of volunteering for the Samaritans during the 70s, The Brenda Line explores the conundrum of what to do with the Samaritan’s pledge to listen non judgmentally to callers when a caller wants more than a conversation.

In 1972, in response to a question from volunteers about what to do about obscene calls, the Samaritans established The Brenda Line, training specialist volunteers, ‘Brendas’, who would provide a listening ear to indecent calls. After much controversy, the Brenda Line was disbanded in 1982.

Here, The Brenda Line is in its heyday and those controversies are given voice in Mould’s thoughtful two hander. Karen (Charlotte Grayson), the Samaritan’s youngest volunteer at 19, arrives in a nondescript room for her first night shift with the Samaritans. Her motivation is to help out and maybe find the material for her first novel, what she hadn’t bargained for was her older shift companion, Anne (Fiona Bruce), a trained Brenda.

Filled with feminist fervour and the idealistic certainty of youth, Karen challenges Anne on why she is prepared to listen to the ‘master masturbators’. After years of listening, Anne has developed an empathy for the callers and even concern for a regular, Daniel, who hasn’t called at his usual time. Daniel (or the ‘punctual pervert’ as Karen terms him) is the linchpin around which the issues emerge – on the one hand, from Karen about sexual violence enabling and escalation, and, on the other, from Anne, about the need for listening and empathy and understanding of why people might call. The play doesn’t provide easy answers but it does raise questions for us to consider and abundant one liners along the way that are sensitive to its content but laugh aloud funny.

Fiona Bruce as Anne and Charlotte Grayson as Karen play a skilfully balanced double act finding a way from bristling disagreement to a delicately balanced understanding of each other. Karen starts off all hunched up shoulders, outwardly bold and inwardly nervous teenager, while Anne is the 70s dungaree clad earth mother, dispensing endless cups of tea and tolerance. Working through the tensions, they arrive at a shared sisterhood alert to the many contradictions of the sexual culture of the 70s

Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Associate Director, Ben Occhipinti, provides restrained direction that allows centre stage for the relationship between the two characters to develop and their debate to be heard. By enabling Mould’s non judgemental take on the Brenda Line, he lets us explore for ourselves the issues raised in the play about the importance of empathy and listening, and  about the volunteers’ own need to be heard and listened to. Natalie Fern’s design is simple but effective, looking just as you’d imagine a 70s Samaritan’s base would look – the orange dial telephones are a particular delight. Unobtrusive but effective, Niroshani Thambar’s soundscape enhances the production.

All in all, this is a wonderfully worked production that brings out the best from its actors and from the play. 

Published November 14, 2024 by Clare Simpson