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Hampstead theatre, LondonCompelling performances aren’t enough to save Roxana Silbert’s staid restaging of this Pulitzer-winning suicide dramaMarsha Norman’s mother-daughter drama is driven by the theatrical principle of Chekhov’s gun: a pistol is introduced in the opening, retrieved from a dusty attic, and the prospect of its firing is what motors the play to its final moments.“I’m going to kill myself, mama,” says Jessie, a epileptic woman whose life has wilted and who lives with her mother, Thelma.At Hampstead theatre, London, until 4 DecemberIn the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. Continue reading...