The question of what we inherit from our parents has been keeping psychologists busy for decades, and playwrights for far longer. In Joanne Lau’s new play, Worth, four siblings come together on the day of their mother’s funeral in search of a very literal inheritance. They discover, over the course of a manic treasure hunt, that a more potent legacy is hidden inside each of them – and not in a good way.
Against the backdrop of Moi Tran’s enjoyably detailed set, the sibling dynamics quickly reveal themselves. First-born Jacob, played by a suitably swaggering Arthur Lee, is recently out of prison and alpha male-ing it over the comically needy Teddy (Stephen Hoo) and placatory Penny (Jennifer Lim); he can’t even be bothered to learn the name of his nephew, Anthony (a joyously brattish Leo Buckley). Sara Chia-Jewell plays May, the baby of the family, who has flown in from the US trailing a blend of sanctimony and victimhood. Here is a woman who believes wheelie suitcases are immoral because if you’re going to carry something with you, you should feel its weight. “There are consequences,” she tells Teddy ominously.
The second act of is full of them: specifically, the generational burdens of an immigrant family whose mother wanted a better life for her children than the one she had, yet couldn’t help resenting them for it. What begins as a dark comedy of manners – with Teddy boasting about his successful dentist practice and protesting: “I’m not a racist, I subscribe to the Guardian!” – becomes a fraught recital of childhood abuses and family grievances that starts to make The Homecoming look like an episode of Friday Night Dinner.
Violence, menace and humour don’t have to be mutually exclusive, but their coexistence demands a dance on a razor’s edge. Instead, as the collateral suffering mounts, Lau’s script loses its footing and careers down a cliff-face of revelations; neither the ensemble’s best efforts nor Mingyu Lin’s direction can rescue it from a soap-opera climax. The play’s question is a worthy one – but the answers are provided with too heavy a hand.
Worth is at the Arcola theatre, London, until 29 April.
