Paved With Gold and Ashes @ORL

Running for two nights at Angel Islington's Old Red Lion Theatre, Paved With Gold and Ashes is a touching five hander about young factory workers of 1911 New York. Although the black box stage is relatively sparse, littered with simple white cotton and lace and a precarious stack of wooden chairs, Julia Thurston's script works hard to quickly place us in our context. 

The show opens with music, an accompanied tune sung by all five characters who gently weave a gorgeous harmony together. It was a beautifully metaphorical opening, the stitching together of their vocal lines creating a tapestry of sound that reflected their daily work. It also subtly hinted at the way this tight one hour show will explore the women’s differences as well as their similarities.

Although all the women are trapped in 12 hour working days and confined by familial expectations, the play managed to establish individuality very quickly. Everleigh Brenner is strident as velvet hatted Rose (the lesser workers wear straw hats), while Olivia Gaidry is smiling and perky as Annie. Ida, played by Serena Lehman, is filled with tender hope at the promise of motherhood. But for me the stand out pair were Caroline Letelier as bubbly and energetic aspiring actress Rosaria, the baby of an Italian immigrant family adjusting to a new life. Fidgeting constantly and unable to sit still, she gave an essential injection of zest and playfulness. Julia Thurston as her frustrated older sister Lucia sensitively blends matronly irritation with wistful memories of the boyfriend she left behind in the old country. 

Although I was initially concerned by a lack of narrative thrust in the meandering ‘day in the life of’ structure, worrying clues to the impending disaster quickly build to create a chilling sense of dread. And I greatly enjoyed the use of song throughout, especially how it created contrasting atmospheres. I was moved by the irony of these charming female voices trapped in a patriarchal world where women were rendered voiceless.

Produced by Threedumb Theatre, this is a departure from the gothic fare I’m used to in plays such as One Man Poe and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It’s a refreshing shift and marks the company as capable not only of versatility but also of touching, and socially relevant commentary, in this case the limited power of unions, the necessity of strikes and the human cost of unacceptable work conditions. 

They perform in Edinburgh's Greenside Infirmary Street Olive Studio from Monday 14th to Saturday 26th August.

(Photo credit: Stephanie Van Driesen)