Tag Archives: Courtyard Theatre

Among Angels

Among Angels
★★★

Courtyard Theatre

Among Angels

Among Angels

Courtyard Theatre

Reviewed – 4th April 2019

★★★

 

“A fresh, compellingly surreal exploration of an underworld that deserves a stage and discussion. It’s frustrating the story is so convoluted”

 

When school teacher Chris is accused of sexual assault by a past Grindr hook-up, he spirals into a depression that lands him at a shady chemsex party. A mysterious stranger warns Chris to go home, but depressed and alone, Chris decides to stay, whatever the consequences.

Written by Timothy Graves, and directed by Peter Taylor, Among Angels brings us to the darkest side of London’s gay party scene. It’s a world of syringes and pipes, sugar daddies and questionable consent, where love is sneered at and sex is an expression of self-hatred. The play’s disorienting transitions, stark lighting (Jordan Moffatt), and spoken word full of religious references and Bible verses, create the sense of a paranoid high. Graves and Taylor have placed us in a world of the gritty unreal, where angels walk in drug dens. The show is a fresh, compellingly surreal exploration of an underworld that deserves a stage and discussion. It’s frustrating the story is so convoluted.

A bit of purposeful disorientation can be effective. However, Graves’ script is so dense and difficult to follow, the confusion detracts from the experience. The story begins with Chris (Stephen Papaioannou) being arrested for sexual assault. Then suddenly he’s at a chemsex party with Pete (Christopher Hardcastle) and Adam (Tommy Papaioannou). It’s a very long scene. We don’t know who Pete and Adam are, and apparently neither does Chris. Their banter is aimless, and the play feels stalled. Why is Chris there? Why are we spending so much time with these random characters?

The story seems to have disappeared entirely until Jamie (Kieran Faulkner) appears, warning Chris to leave. But then a flashback abandons Chris completely. There’s a lot about Jamie being a ghost/angel, but not enough about why or how he’s been haunting/guarding Chris. The afterlife – hastily explained in chaotic scenes that oddly intertwine with fourth wall-breaking acknowledgement of the theatre (the characters suddenly aware they’re in a play) – makes very little sense.

The sexual assault charge is forgotten until near the end when we suddenly see the victim giving his testimony. The play’s description says Chris is “falsely accused”, but when the victim tells his story, there’s no suggestion he’s lying, and no explanation for why he would lie. The meaning of this scene is lost. Also shoved into the end is a storyline that Chris and Jamie have had an unseen/unspoken relationship for years, that Chris’s passion is acting, and that Jamie was a promising cellist.

It’s messy, confusing storytelling. Graves spends far too long on empty, establishing material in the first half, and then tries to cram everything of importance into the second. The last fifteen minutes is a whirlwind of muddled melodrama.

Among Angels is highly relevant, exposing light on a shadowy subject that’s perhaps more immediately dangerous to young people than many realise. A sharp outside eye to cut and reorganise could give this play real potential.

 

Reviewed by Addison Waite

Photography by Craig Fuller

 


Among Angels

Courtyard Theatre until 27th April

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
Fox Hunting | ★★★★★ | May 2018
Omish | ★★★★★ | November 2018

 

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com

 

Omish – 5 Stars

Omish

Omish

Courtyard Theatre

Reviewed – 8th November 2018

★★★★★

“a faultless play, balancing contemplative moments with scenes of alcohol fuelled energy”

 

Not even a minute ago the audience was mingling in the downstairs bar, laughter and the exchange of greetings filling the room. Upon taking our seats in the theatre, however, the mood changes immediately. All the focus shifts to the lone figure sitting centre stage, the living room setting feels like it is being drained of all the life it might once have held.

Abi (Joyce Omotola) seems out of place amid bright and glittery decorations. Two balloons, in the shape of a one and a two, clearly mark this out as a 21st birthday party. Loud music is blaring, and a narrow table holds several bottles of alcohol and an impressive collection of red solo cups. A Happy Birthday sign has become partly detached from the front of the table and stray balloons are scattered across the floor.

Gradually, the music becomes more and more distorted until it completely gives way to Abi’s voice as she proclaims: “Humans need to feel like a pack. Hunter over the hunted”. The clickety-clack of a typewriter accompanies her speech. As she rises to her feet the purple spotlight which had been focused on Abi is extinguished, her figure now drenched in darkness. Classical music springs to life as the five remaining characters enter the stage, ethereally gliding into position surrounding the figure of Abi.

Omish, written by Sophie Soanes and directed by Ewa Dina, is the debut play of the newly formed Lunar Theatre Company. A collection of young, female creatives, they have made it their mission to support women whose voices and stories are not being represented on stage. The play takes place over the course of one night. It’s Savannah’s (Keletso Kesupile) 21st birthday party. All her best friends are invited, drinks have been poured and everyone is bursting with gossip. Between university commitments and new boyfriends, the friends have a lot to share. The celebratory atmosphere is broken by the arrival of Savannah’s cousin Abi who brings with her a past the group would rather forget.

The all-female cast fall into character without hesitation. Becky (Sophie Soanes), who embodies Cyndi Lauper’s hit song Girls Just Want to Have Fun, dispels any awkwardness from the group with her loud, energetic personality. Joining her and birthday girl Savannah are nuclear engineering student and Waitrose shopping vegan Lola (Naomi Emmanuel), social media influencer Zara (Laura White) and Jess (Shannon Watson) who, obsessed with her boyfriend, starts every sentence with Josh and me.

Omish is a faultless play, balancing contemplative moments with scenes of alcohol fuelled energy. Twists and turns lead the audience from a moment of safety to sudden danger. Lunar took on the challenge of discussing sex, pleasure, gender equality, terrorism, online witch hunts and more in one play and executed it perfectly. A praise which can’t be attributed to the talents of one individual only, but to the genuine feeling of friendship in the cast and the not to be missed, breath-taking story.

 

Reviewed by Alexandra Wilbraham

Photography courtesy Lunar Theatre

 

The Courtyard

Omish

Courtyard Theatre until 24th November

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
Fox Hunting | ★★★★★ | May 2018

 

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com