Tag Archives: Addison Waite

The Good Landlord

The Good Landlord
★★★★

VAULT Festival

Reviews, , , , , , , , , , ,

The Good Landlord

The Good Landlord

The Vaults

Reviewed – 6 February 2019

★★★★

 

“an uneasy story that keeps you anxious about what happens next”

 

Ed and Tom are stunned when estate agent Clarissa tells them the rent for the incredible central London flat they’re viewing is just £400 each. Tom wants to know what the catch is. Ed isn’t bothered (who cares! There’s a view of Big Ben from the window!). It’s then Tom notices cameras in the ceilings of every room (bedroom and bathroom included). Clarissa says they’re for security purposes: the landlord likes to make sure nothing untoward goes on in the building. Tom is far from convinced. Ed doesn’t mind: if someone wants to watch him, that’s their business. He has nothing to hide. Meanwhile, Clarissa’s new PA, Bryony, finds herself in trouble after she questions the landlord’s motives.

The premise of The Good Landlord, Metamorph Theatre’s first in-house production, invokes some interesting questions about privacy in the social media age. Have daily ‘check ins’ and ‘stories’ desensitised us to being monitored? Are we primed for a surveillance state? In this sense, the premise is somewhat misleading. The show is far more absurdist dark comedy than general social-political commentary. Ed’s comfort with being watched isn’t because he’s a ‘plugged in’ millennial; it’s because he has an exhibition fetish. The mysterious landlord is less Big Brother and more lone perv. Besides the unaffordability of housing (which the play may be one long joke about), writer Michael Ross leaves current issues in the background: it’s up to the viewer to connect them (or not).

If The Good Landlord is not sermonising social criticism, it is a delightfully weird comedy where it feels like anything can happen. Realism is almost entirely abandoned as the characters dive into evocative spoken word that echoes surreally around the Cavern space at The Vaults. Ed’s fantasies of seducing the ever-watching landlord nonsensically overlap with his delusions of MI5 observing him for recruitment purposes. Clarissa bizarrely speaks in screenplay metaphors. Their monologues are tangential crescendos, but Ross adeptly prevents them from derailing the plot. It’s an uneasy story that keeps you anxious about what happens next.

Rupert Sadler’s (Ed) bombastic affect is a main source of humour as his character gradually spirals into the outrageous. Phoebe Batteson-Brown (Clarissa) brings most of the darkness to the comedy with her syrup-coated threats. Maximillian Davey nails Tom’s insecurity, and Tiwalade Ibirogba Olulode (Bryony) anchors the show with her earnest portrayal. Tom and Bryony are caught between Ed’s insanity and Clarissa’s villainy – two powerful forces the sincerer characters struggle to fight. Perhaps doing the right thing is always a losing battle in an insane, cruel world.

If you’re looking for a modern 1984 in the aftermath of the Facebook data-sharing scandal, this isn’t that play. However, audiences who are willing to check reality in at the door, step into a world of dark, outlandish humour, and draw their own conclusions will find plenty to enjoy in The Good Landlord.

 

Reviewed by Addison Waite

Photography courtesy Metamorph Theatre

 

Vault Festival 2019

The Good Landlord

Part of VAULT Festival 2019

 

 

 

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

 

We’ve Got Each Other
★★★½

VAULT Festival

Reviews, , , , , , , ,

Weve Got Each Other

We’ve Got Each Other

The Vaults

Reviewed – 6 February 2019

★★★½

 

“Because O’Donnell proves he’s a ‘triple threat’, it’s hard not to want more than what we’re given”

 

We’ve Got Each Other is an anticipated twelve-times Olivier Award nominated musical spectacular. A cast of thirty-five, a full band rocking Bon Jovi tunes, Bruno Tonioli choreography, gorgeous costumes, and confetti cannons make for an unforgettable night of theatre. Or at least it would have, if Paul O’Donnell had had the budget for it. Due to a few logistical snags, the final result is… a bit different from the initial pitch. But ‘the show must go on’, and on it goes, as a one-man musical. O’Donnell reassures us, we’ve got the script, some good music, and most importantly, we’ve got each other. And that’s a lot.

Paul O’Donnell is hilarious, wonderfully awkward and apologetic, as he talks the audience through the show that ‘might have been’. He sits on the side of a bare stage under an Ikea lamp with the script. He invites us to use our imagination to make up for the lack of… everything really. Lighting cues (Arnim Friess) follow actors who aren’t there. O’Donnell narrates the story and the dancing play-by-play, vividly immersing the audience into a non-existent jukebox musical. It’s a laugh-out-loud funny spoof. He relentlessly, lovingly, mocks every aspect of musical theatre from the overwrought melodrama down to the set changes. Various recorded versions of “Livin’ on a Prayer” (acapella, instrumental) serve as the soundtrack.

O’Donnell embraces the very camp he’s poking fun at: his enthusiasm for this terrible Bon Jovi musical is infectious. It’s a bit of a shame, then, that it takes him until the second half to get up out of the chair. He spends most of the time sitting, half-mimicking the would-be dancing. The restraint of his position seems at odds with his eagerness and excitement. It’s gratifying when he finally gets up and fully dances, sings, and acts out the scenes. If he were to do this from the start, it would ramp up the energy of the show, which feels underdone while he’s confined to the chair. Because O’Donnell proves he’s a ‘triple threat’, it’s hard not to want more than what we’re given. Additionally, for a Bon Jovi musical, it would have been nice to hear more than one Bon Jovi song. Not sure whether it’s intentional for humour or copyright reasons, but comedy-wise it seems like loading a six-barrel gun with just one bullet.

One man reading through a musical script on a blank stage sounds like a long sixty minutes. The catch is that somehow O’Donnell is funny, creative, and talented enough to pull it off. Fans of musicals will truly enjoy this hilarious, incisive love letter to the genre. But even my companions who are not regular theatre-goers were repeatedly in stitches. This no-budget musical may be livin’ on a prayer, but it’s living its best life. Give it a shot.

 

Reviewed by Addison Waite

Photography by Alex Brenner

 

Vault Festival 2019

We’ve Got Each Other

Part of VAULT Festival 2019

 

 

 

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