Quicksand

This is a play that caters for all types of audience; it isn’t just a simple love story that finishes with a happy ending or one that you can easily drift off in. Quicksand is a deeply emotional story that hooks you in within the first few minutes, as soon as the lights go down and the stage lights up, the powerful presence of the actors is enough to send the entire room into an eerie silence.

Set in Ulverston and focusing on the large Polish community in Cumbria, this play deals with the exploitation of migrant workers in Morecambe Bay. It shows how people take advantage of the hard working people that have genuinely come over to make a better life for themselves. They are forced to work longer hours with less pay than any English person would accept, they are stacked into houses and made to share rooms with people they have never met, sometimes resulting in terrible accidents. For people local to Morecambe Bay, watching this play, is a terrible reminder of the 23 Chinese people that lost their lives on the Bay, whilst cockle picking in 2004.

As soon as the play starts Renata (Sarah Parks) bursts on to stage, loud and arrogant, equipped with a strong Polish accent and you can immediately tell that this is a woman who has struggled to get the life she has now. Coming over to England in the 1970’s to escape the Soviet Bloc, Renata fought to provide the best possible life for herself and her son, Leo (Curtis Cole). Lured by good wages and a far better life than she would ever have got in Poland she decided to stay and build her own businesses.

However being Polish did not soften her approach to the other Polish people seeking a better life and she was soon one of the people ready to exploit them. Providing them with a house on Ramsden Road she didn’t care how many where in a room, or whether or not it was safe, as long as they paid their way.

However Leo, unlike his mother, has a more caring side and repeatedly tries to tell her that what she is doing is illegal. This unfortunately falls on death ears and it isn’t long until one of her residents by the name of Elka (Cristina Catalina) is stirring up a fuss. However Elka is not all she seems and despite being in the centre of our love story, is quick to avoid the question of why she has chosen to migrate to England when she comes from such a nice life in Poland.

The fourth character, and without a doubt, the most likeable is Ula (Eithne Browne) who is Renata’s housekeeper. She is a sweet and caring lady who constantly keeps the peace throughout the play, she expects nothing in return for her kindness and without her nurturing and motherly side this story would surely end in disaster.

To say any more would ruin Zosia Wand’s beautiful story and that is the last thing I would want to do. It is a play that manages to capture your imagination from beginning to end and is definitely a play you want to watch. Showing at the Dukes Theatre in Lancaster until the 12^thof February, there is just no excuse to miss it.