We all believe to have wisdom to share as passive spectators of other people’s problems seen on the TV, newspaper or just overheard. But would you actually be brave enough to consciously connect yourself to the woes of anyone through an open line of communication you have to answer? That was the idea of the Samaritans, Founded by Anglican Priest Chad Varah, in 1953. And while most people probably heard of the charity and the support it provides, there soon came a very specific line of obscene calls, which volunteers had to get trained at and were then called, you guessed it, “Brendas.” Crazy, or not so much? While the practice was disbanded after 15 years, this is the focus of The Brenda Line – a beautifully insightful and light-hearted play by Harry Mould based on their mother’s experience while volunteering with the Samaritans.
Here, Mould’s mother, Karen is an excited and idealistic 18-year-old girl played by an energetic Charlotte Grayson who almost makes me wish I was this age again. She arrives at the office with high hopes and meets a Samaritan veteran, Anne, portrayed by Fiona Bruce.
Grayson and Bruce sparkle with immediate chemistry as the night starts innocently enough with an induction full of insightful anecdotes about being a Samaritan. Night shifts are the busiest because that’s when ‘It’s hard to hide from yourself’ and ‘A girl’s best friend is gut.’ There are also regulars and one of them should have called by now. Anne is worried, but after finding out that this is one of the Brenda guys, Karen gets into a feminist fume of a monologue where the old clashes with young, exposing an array of issues on identity and loneliness that hide underneath the eagerness to help others while keeping own secrets that slowly come out.
Between the battle of the conscience, I jump a little every time the phone rings (is anyone else in the audience shamelessly hoping to hear the Brenda guy, I wonder) listening to the callers, each unique and real like the person sitting next to me as I realise there is a whole world squeezed in this little, cosy room, so perfectly designed by Natalie Fern.
Ben Occhipinti has given this beautiful script a true justice with careful direction the story deserves, gently tiptoeing between the harsh reality of the unimaginably hard work Samaritan volunteers face and beautiful hilarious moments found between two characters who should have nothing in common but find themselves connected through more than just a telephone line. Surely, the loud applause at the end of the show is directed not only at The Brenda Line team, but also all the Samaritans, past and present.
The Brenda Line is running at Traverse Theatre until 16 November.
Main Photo: Fiona Bruce as Anne and Charlotte Grayson as Karen in The Brenda Line – Photo by Fraser Band
