Ruby and Cedar

Review by: Paul Towers, 17/10/19

Ruby and Cedar by Alison Dunne

A Fishhouse Theatre presentation

Upstairs @ The Western, 17 & 18 October 2019

“Where were you when man first stood on the moon?”

Fishhouse Theatre is the new in-house theatre company at Upstairs at The Western and Alison Dunne is one of the lead directors of the company and an accomplished playwright.

On the 20^th July 1969 man first set foot on the moon. However, before that could happen both America and USSR launched several orbiting space missions. Probably the most memorable astronaut was Russia’s Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. His best friend was also a cosmonaut, called Komarov. Together they had code names of Ruby and Cedar.

Thousands of miles away two sisters are brought up in the West Midlands and also called Ruby and Cedar. Not entirely surprisingly these sister grew up obsessed with space and astronauts. As they bickered and fought their way into adulthood they resolved to meet up every year on the anniversary of the inaugural moon landing.

Alison Dunne’s poignant play sets the story of the girls’ growing up against the narrative of the flawed initial Soyuz mission.

Therese Collins as Cedar and Blue Merrick as Ruby beautifully play the bickering but ultimately fiercely loyal siblings as they choose separate career and lifestyle paths. With changes of lighting and accents the pair also play various Russians and Americans as the story unfolds.

Ruby and Cedar plays at Upstairs at The Western again on Friday, which is lucky as Thursday was sold out, and continues the tour it started in June 2019. Details on Fishhouse Theatre’s Facebook page.

Upstairs at The Western http://upstairsatthewestern.com/
First published on Western Gazette