Our New Girl deploys a familiar motif in its first half, that of the perfect but infiltrating nanny, known from the Sharon Stone movie to Channel 5 afternoon drama. Annie (Jeanne Nicole Ni Ainle) is employed by the domineering husband Richard who’s abroad, and takes over the household. The play which arrived at the Lyric Theatre last night is however darker and opens with the son Daniel about to cut his ear. There is also a technique in which a black screen suddenly blocks the action, sometimes with noises, which acts as a disturbing device. Things slow, then speed up.
It makes the narrative uncertain and there are questions which deepen Nancy Harris’ psychologically intriguing, sinister play. The couple, Hazel and Richard, are going through a tough patch, not helped by their son’s wayward behaviour. Richard the husband (plausible Mark Huberman) is a plastic surgeon who operates pro bono on victims of warfare abroad. As his friendship with Annie develops, she reveals one night she was abused by her father, bears the physical scar and knew of her employer before gaining the job. They end up together in a clinch on the floor. There is an emphasis on truth and lies which involves an impressive passage of dramatic irony. The little boy witnessed the scene between his father and Annie and tells the mother in front of them. Defensively, Richard berates him for lying, something he may have done earlier about staring at a girl at school. Milo Payne was excellent here as the son.
Annie protests that removing Daniel’s pet tarantula, something kept from the father, may have unsettled him and his behaviour. In Chekhov there are guns, here we have giant spiders.
The second half continues to focus on the dysfunctional family, with brilliant work from Lisa Dwyer Hogg as Hazel who seems to be losing her mind. She confesses at one point to having left her son in a supermarket and never having had the maternal instinct, which could explain the We Need To Talk About Kevin element in her son’s story.
The ending lacks clarity but as the three remaining characters, mother, son and soon to arrive baby huddle together, with Hazel finally allowing Daniel to touch her swollen belly and acknowledge his sister, they may become a happy family. But she also seemed a bit too interested in the kitchen knives under Rhiann Jeffreys’ clever direction. Different from Harris’ hit TV show, The Dry, this merits a visit.
Jane Hardy
