REVIEW: To Have and To Hold

To Have and To Hold, written by Mark Bastin, is a play centred on the lives of an elderly couple, Dennis (Mark Steere) and Gina Woodman (Susan Graham). We see both Dennis and Gina take turns in performing their own monologues, switching and overlapping, but, for the majority of the play, staying separate without any interaction. We are taken on a journey, shown different points from their relationship, such as the moment they met, their wedding, and family holidays. We are told of these moments by both Dennis and Gina, allowing us to understand the differences in their perspectives and how memories are changeable and dependent on the individual witness. 

We learn early on that Gina is in a sort of coma, unable to move or to speak, but through her monologue, she talks to us from her incapacitated state. Dennis cares for her, and speaks about looking after her wife as if she was a child, or “one of your own”. This leads to tender moments during the play; Gina’s final state, slumped in the armchair and the back of the stage is contrasted effectively with the succeeding scene of the couple dancing nostalgically to I Only Have Eyes For You, by the Flamingos. We are constantly reminded of the disparity between their youth and old age, making for a work instilled with remembrance and recollection. However, this is where the work starts to become somewhat stale and fusty. As a younger audience member, I found the play deeply old-fashioned. This is not only due to the couple being older, reminiscing on the 70s and 80s, and their language and dialect therefore reflective of that. The work as a whole seemed out-of-date. Attempting to tell a timeless story, the characters, set, and storyline were sheltered from modern ideas of human connection. In general, Dennis and Gina’s relationship is conventional and predictable, taking turns, switching between positive and negative in the way we would expect. The play begins to become interesting when a darkness is hinted at, at certain points, concerning their relationship. For instance, we learn of the postpartum depression Gina suffered after she gave birth to her children, leading to her becoming detached, distant, with lines hinting at sociopathic feelings and thoughts. It is also implied that Dennis holds a level of toxic control over Gina while caring for her. These themes are intriguing and would allow the play to depart from a conventional re-enactment of an ageing relationship. However, the darkness was underdeveloped and unaccounted for. Unexplained was the reason why this story was being told now. Why, while Gina is in a coma? Why at this stage in their relationship are we now hearing their history? The play settles itself in the common, and too familiar space which is that of female oppression and the subjugation of women into the mother role. We learn of Gina’s rejection of this responsibility and the domestic demands placed upon her. But this is predictable, and a narrative which has occupied too much theatre in the past, in my opinion. 

Despite this, I would like to acknowledge Susan Graham’s performance which was truly glowing and captivating. She was able to render a dramatic portrait of a woman who is at once at the centre of it all, but also subjected to the sidelines. To Have and To Hold was overall, a piece of theatre dedicated to a certain time, and to a specific story, but failing as a result to explore a more distinctive and imaginative telling of a long-term, ageing relationship.