Review: The Brenda Line – Traverse

Playwright Harry Mould isn’t quite sure whether the Brenda Line was a good or bad initiative. Perhaps seeking resolution through creativity, she creates volunteers Anne (Fiona Bruce) and Karen (Charlotte Grayson), arms each with the opposing perspective and leaves them alone in a locked Samaritans’ office to work it out over the night shift.

Operated by Samaritan volunteers side-by-side with the better-known helpline between 1958 and 1987, ‘Brendas’ catered to those with more obscene chats in mind. The brainchild of Samaritans founder, the Rev Chad Varah, and a service for which he wrote the manual for Telephone Masturbators, the intention was to leave none out in the friendless cold.

Regarded as an unfortunate, even harmful misadventure by the organisation every since, but championed by vocal former ‘Brendas’, as well as Varah until his death, its virtues (or lack thereof) are no clearer looking back from 2024.

Both actors turn in first-rate performances in this hermetically sealed two-hander. Bruce is immensely likeable as the retired postwoman with a big heart, whilst Grayson is every inch the teenage sage with much to give, and much to learn. The former is an adept Brenda, and an advocate for continuing dialogue with the ‘Befriendables’ who call, whether teenage boys disguising a need for information with a prank call, fetishists in need of validation, or the ‘Type C’s’ in need of illicit gratification.

Karen is horrified.

“Both actors turn in first-rate performances in this hermetically sealed two-hander.”

Their continuing conversation as to the rights and wrongs of the line is the basis of a play which studiously avoids reaching a conclusion. Whilst the teenager’s castigation of all things Brenda as inherently misogynist and exploitative is hard to deny, her 80’s vintage feminism seems decidedly retrograde by modern standards. If the Brenda Line was wrong, Mould’s drama is clear this isn’t because certain niches of non-criminal male society are despicable perverts, as Karen declares. The dialogue is lively and does well to avoid excessive esotericism.

Wisely avoiding making the play entirely philosophical, Mould injects some tension into proceedings via the teenagers’ escalating paranoia over one of Anne’s regular Brenda callers. Whilst the older woman is worried when he doesn’t make his regular Wednesday call, the younger becomes increasingly convinced it’s because he is out and up to no good, or potentially coming to assault them.

Turning out all the lights and hiding behind the desks certainly makes it harder for the resolutely sanguine Anne to deliver a nice cup of tea every 30 minutes. This is a solid seam of comedy delivering laughs, but edged with the insidious possibility that the telephone masturbator could be out there. Of course, being prepared to believe the worst of someone simply for having a kink, may say more about us as the audience, than the fictional onanist.

There’s also the staple drama of any Samaritans’ office: callers, to negotiate. Their voices, recorded by the excellent trio of Colin McCredie, Eden Barrie, and Ali Watts, cut through the Brenda-line debate entirely, pinning the story to the core purpose of Varah’s creation. Realising each as an organic, natural interaction, is a credit to Ben Occhipinti’s subtle, clever direction.

“Wisely avoiding making the play entirely philosophical, Mould injects some tension into proceedings via the teenagers’ escalating paranoia over one of Anne’s regular Brenda callers.”

Occhipinti is also wise enough to give Bruce the spotlight when Anne recalls her first averted suicide. It’s a quiet, powerful moment amidst the lively chatter and a testament to the love which drives the Samaritans’ continuing service.

For a debut play, ‘The Brenda Line’ certainly demonstrates immense confidence and competence. It avoids excessive verbiage, whilst bravely avoiding pandering to any single sensibility. Come the finale the question has been explored but not answered, leaving the audience to go forth and ponder. If the play doesn’t give its characters fully developed arcs, it still creates them as lively, engaging individuals. If this were just the first act, the audience would certainly be keen for the second. Let’s hope Mould’s subsequent work remains as thoughtful, engaging and thought-provoking.

Featured Image: Fiona Bruce as Anne and Charlotte Grayson as Karen in The Brenda Line – Photo by Fraser Band