Cyril's Little Moments of Weakness and Strength
Theatre Guide London
Julian Garner's sadly comic look at the life of an aging carer is given a sensitive production by C.H.A.O.S. Theatre, as Jeffrey Mayhew plays a sixty-something man who has lovingly and uncomplainingly devoted himself to the care of his blind and wheelchair-bound brother (David Williams), who has, in the unmalicious way of some invalids, become ever more demanding in small and large ways. A chance meeting with a local widow (Janie Booth) hints at an opening up of Cyril's little world, and the play looks at that possibility. Under Mayhew's direction, the actors underplay nicely, keeping the story on a small scale with, for example, Cyril's frustrations just hinted at by small gestures of anger he can safely make in the knowledge his brother won't see them. It is little touches like that, and like the realistic awkwardness of two older people not used to making new friends, that stick in the mind and make for a warm and moving hour.
Gerald Berkowitz, August 2003