Wasted time

Prunella Scales and Wayne Harrison, star and producer respectively, point out in Too Far To Walk's publicity material, that there is a dearth of quality parts for older actresses. Don't be surprised, therefore, if, in 30 years' time, Julia Roberts and Catherine-Zeta Jones get Oscar nominations for their portrayals of ageing sisters Clarissa and Olivia, reunited after 50 years apart on different continents.

Mary Morris's script will need some work before it gets the full Hollywood string-music-playing-for-the-happy-ending treatment, as too much is glossed over in its current excessively brief 75-minute running time. Its potentially intriguing and troubling storyline should be both broadened and deepened to serve to best effect the issues it aims to lay bare.

After the death of their mother in the north of austerity England, the young sisters' father finds himself unable to cope with his daughters' upbringing. Thus Clarissa, always at a slight angle to the world, is packed off to a mental hospital because of the lack of space in a children's home, whereas Olive (as she was then) becomes part of a "cargo of children" shipped to Australia. Only half a century later does Clarissa manage to break free from her institutionalisation to seek out her sibling.

One would have thought that the psychological scars of this - both sisters were encouraged forcibly to forget the other's existence - would be nigh on irreparable, but after only a minimum of fuss it's time for healing hugs in the sand dunes.

Notwithstanding this hole where the trauma should be, Lucy Skilbeck's production, which skilfully interweaves the past and the present, is enjoyably energetic. It also boasts an outstanding turn from Scales, virtually unrecognisable in her old-age make-up. She delivers her sharp lines with dry humour ("Praise the Lord and send us sausage!"), and almost manages to convince us that she can forgive her sister for never having tried to liberate her.

Susan Harrison is painfully moving as the younger Clarissa, ripped from her prelapsarian cocoon of schoolyard songs and sisterly banter. One hopes that London theatre will see more of this talented actress. The only shame is that she will be far too old by 2032 to play Julia Roberts as a child.