Ask yourself this one question. How often do you walk past someone drunk who is living on the street and disregard or overlook them? Far more often than you probably realise after all “People like us need people like them to feel clean” according to Myra (Fiona Hewitt-Twamley). There is a lot of truth in her words.
However, behind everyone, we encounter in all walks of life lies a back story with various degrees of personal tragedies and despair. Myra’s story is one of these such tales.
Set against a lobe park bench, we meet her after a long drunken night in which she had been celebrating the night before for her Forthy eight-year-old Irish born Myra living on the streets of Dublin. Desperately trying to scrape together enough money for her next drink.
Myra’s heartbreaking tale of losing her mother at a young age, losing her father to alcoholism and the sad destruction of her marriage to Tommy through her “medicine” also known as alcohol, predominantly vodka.
Breaking the fourth wall on many occasions by asking members of the audience asked for any spare change. Her tale of tragedy and heartbreak was shared openly with us as if we were all individuals interacting with her.
Meeting all the characters through the eyes of Myra, with a plethora of voices to match each one from her colourful neighbours, the GP, right down to disapproving Norris the Gnome who argues with Vladavar the vodka bottle regularly in her kitchen.
Combining comedy, personal tragedy with an honest and open tale Myra’s performance descends into a drunken state as the day/play progresses from morning to night. Writer Brian Foster has captured the very heart and soul of Myra the homeless drunk with an air of kindness, empathy compassion and lots of devilish humour.
Please check out Myra’s Story on the Facebook link below and follow them, as the show would like to take go on tour and it would be a shame if Myra’s tales couldn’t be shared with future audiences.
Five Stars.
https://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/event/1688659-myras-story/
https://www.edfringe.com/event/2021MYRASST_ATT
https://www.facebook.com/Myras-Story-Irish-Play-203247913892700/
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