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The Arbor

There are few existences more drab than those lived out in the Buttershaw Estate in Bradford, England. “Estate” is a British misnomer for the post-war council housing blocks that are hotbeds of family violence and drug addiction. Inconceivably, a playwriting genius emerged from this bleak world in 1982 when Andrea Dunbar’s “Rita, Sue and Bob Too” took London's theater world by storm. Andrea was 18 and a single mother at the time, and her work spoke of rampant drug use, crime, and casual sex among England’s lower classes. THE ARBOR is an unusual meditation on Andrea’s life and that of her unhappy daughter Lorraine, who grew up similarly unable to shake her addictions to drugs and violent men. The film makes fascinating use of the conventions of verbatim theater, as actors lip-synch to audio recordings of statements by Andrea’s real family. These segments, with their alienating theatrical effect, are intertwined with documentary footage of Andrea’s life and reconstructions of her plays. As actors perform outdoors on Buttershaw’s green space, the estate’s current residents watch the show. Andrea Dunbar’s dark visions couldn’t hit any closer to home. (In Bradford-accented English with subtitles) – B.B.