Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 12 November 2011, and touring

SAY WHAT you like about the church – and I’m sure you do – but one thing organised religion is notably good at is dealing with births, marriages and deaths.

WHEN we want to mark those occasions, even in a secular age, we still tend to look to the old institutions. As an alternative, you could try Donna Rutherford’s Kin. Although there’s nothing explicitly religious about this one-woman show, in its sombre reflection on the passage of time and the inevitable process of aging, it fulfils the same social function as a church service.

Donna Rutherford's Kin

When Rutherford describes herself as a “conduit” between us and the five middle-aged friends she has interviewed on video, she is taking on the role of priest and casting us as the congregation. What her short, moving and absorbing show gives us, much like a service, is the chance to step outside the normal run of things and contemplate our lives.

There’s a sense even from her interviewees that this is unusual. Projected onto three screens lined up across the stage, they answer questions about their relationships with their aging mothers. Their conversation is emotionally articulate, honest and sometimes raw. There’s also a feeling that it’s rare to stop and think about these things.

It’s not that what they say is all gloomy. The mothers involved are slowing down, but not ill. This is not a show about tragedy or extraordinary events. It’s just that, in reflecting on their changing relationships, these five people in their 40s and 50s take time to meditate on their lives and their place in the world. They are not in prayer, but they could be.

Indeed, although the subject of Kin appears to be the aging mothers, it is really about their changing children, the only ones who have a voice in this show. Rutherford herself is in her early-40s and she talks about what it feels like to be a child who is no longer one of the young ones. This could come across as self-pity or self-obsession – after all, people have been growing old for a long time and, in that respect, there’s nothing special about this generation – but Kin is presented with so much care and delicacy that you can only be drawn in, finding yourself reflected in the various stories, and allowing yourself that rare time to step back and ponder.

© Mark Fisher, 2011

Links

• Donna Rutherford
• Mark Fisher