Lavender, Hyacinth, Violet, Yew - review

Imagine if the famous quote. "life is like a box of chocolates" from Forrest Gump but the chocolates was swapped with a bouquet of flowers ? Yeah that's how I felt watching Coral Wylie's debut play Lavender, Hyacinth, Violet, Yew at the Bush Theatre. 

Right let me explain myself a little no this play isn't related to the plot of Forrest Gump at all but there is a similar feeling of running away from past versions of yourself that have a funny way of catching up with you. In Wylie's case a non-binary 19 year old called Pip. 

We meet Pip at home with her parents running from one side of the set to another bouncing full of energy like an electric current that is keeping her small family unit together. From the opening scene you can sense that something's happened in the space which they all once called home. 

Diaries, stories, cherished memories all play a key part in piecing together the presence of Duncan, (Omari Douglas) who died some decades ago. The deforestation led by Pip takes us on a  vibrant journey of Duncan the life he lived and the gardens he left behind.

The garden a painful reminder and metaphor of how the dead continue to live amongst us even when they are gone and how we struggle to navigate it but aim to do so with great care. The writing was poetic, raw and real and there wasn't a dry eye in the room including mine.

A line that stuck with me was a heated and emotional conversation between Pip's parents in the allotments where her dad had found himself looking after in his own way of navigating grief. A novice to say the least but his heart was in the right place. Pips mum says, "She's getting so tall... look up!". 

This line stood out to me because we can get so caught up in putting time and effort into something growing that we don't realise that it has already surpassed us. Even the act of being crouched down trying to out smart the weeds in the ground that you never take the time to look at the full garden in front of you just left such beautiful imagery and  was intentionally placed towards the end of the play. 

As the stage filled with flowers in full bloom and the cast took their final bows I left the theatre with my head up looking forward to the gardens that await me.

Lavender, Hyacinth, Violet, Yew is at the Bush Theatre to 22 March.