Ailsa Joy Archives - thespyinthestalls.com

★★★★★

“a delightful evening, skilfully performed by a great ensemble, proof positive of the magic of theatre”

The moon was full and the air icy as we made our way back to the car tonight. Thick mist was rising towards us and angry water swirled beneath our feet as we crossed the river. Few theatre trips are quite as atmospheric as a walk to the Thames-side Isis Farmhouse in Oxford, one of several pubs in Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire and London chosen by Creation Theatre company for their bold and engaging new play, ‘Boatman Town’.

Creation are Oxfordshire’s largest producing theatre company, specialising in adapting classic texts in unusual locations. They employ a cast of full-time actors.

Award-winning poet, playwright and librettist Glyn Maxwell wrote this contemporary story as a response to the medieval play ‘The Summoning of Everyman’. In the late 15th century original, Death summons Everyman, who stands for all of us humans, to give an account of his life as he must face final judgement in Heaven. Everyman asks for companions on their journey, but who amongst their friends will choose to go with them?

This religiously inspired morality play has been inventively transformed by both Glyn Maxwell and the company into a pacey tale of a group of boozy holidaymakers stuck in an English-themed bar on a mysterious foreign island. Tonight it was performed in the centre of one of the pub’s function rooms by a strong cast of seven, with us audience members very much part of the story. Director Helen Eastman and seven fine performers ensure that even in this unusual space – without stage lights or sets – our attention is always held.

Anna Tolputt as Yvonn opens the evening with a beautifully written and rendered monologue which immediately sets up the proposition for a show which runs for just over an hour. It might not have been immediately apparent to all watching, but she is the central character of the medieval original: Everyman, or Anyone as the playwright describes her.

Highly experienced movement director Sam Rayner has a pivotal role as the mysterious waiter who gives orders as much as he takes them. Ailsa Joy gives a spirited performance as Amelia. Alongside Herb Cuanolo as the big man Denny she discovers that something about the English Pub is not quite what it seems. Miranda Foster is the older woman Elaine and Nicholas Osmond the money-minded and enigmatic businessman Nick.

Every one of the pub’s customers – both the characters and their audience – will be tested in this captivating show which demands our active engagement. It was a delightful evening, skilfully performed by a great ensemble, proof positive of the magic of theatre.

Not Quite Jerusalem

Finborough Theatre

Reviewed – 6th March 2020

★★★½

“Joe McArdle and Ronnie Yorke provide a terrific double act as the loud-mouthed Dave and Pete, proving the traditional loutish view of the English abroad”

Forty years ago the ground-breaking Finborough Theatre opened its doors for the first time. To celebrate its anniversary it presents the first new UK production in 40 years of Paul Kember’s award-winning 1980 comedy-drama “Not Quite Jerusalem.”

First seen at the Royal Court the play has some staying power, not least because it proves that nothing changes: the shock is that it could have been written yesterday.

Four young people escape a divided England and lives they would rather forget for an Israeli kibbutz, which they think will be a fun working holiday with sun, sex and sightseeing. In reality they upset their hosts, alienate their fellow kibbutzniks and suffer hard labour in the blistering heat.

On the surface the play is a perfectly respectable comedy drama with a romantic interest, comic characters and a taste of what was, for many young people of the time, an exciting and exotic way of taking time out discovering the world.

Taking that side alone it is true that the piece feels a little dated. But what director Peter Kavanagh and the six-strong cast achieve is to tease out the shadowy heart of the work, which reflects on the sensibilities of life in England’s green and pleasant land and to glimpse ourselves as others see us in an uncomfortable culture clash.

The four youngsters couldn’t be more different: there’s Mike, the laid back Cambridge student who simply walked out of his course and out of contact with his parents; Carrie, the nervous aspiring artist with issues; Dave, the vulgar northerner; and Essex lad Pete, constantly keen to check out the local talent. Also at hand are the kibbutz manager Ami and a fiery and plain-speaking Israeli girl Gila.

Kember doesn’t make it easy to like any of these characters and none of them is particularly well-drawn apart from Mike. So it is to the credit of the performers that they manage to drag the play away from its regular big speeches and navel-gazing to present genuine people in an authentic setting with all too real problems.

Ryan Whittle’s languid Mike starts out by sharing the laziness of the other Brits, but we gain insight into his passions and patriotism. He is well-balanced by the most interesting character, Ailsa Joy’s spirited Gila, and the careful contrast of their performances make their tentative romance all the more credible as both so fiercely represent their cultures and homelands.

Joe McArdle and Ronnie Yorke provide a terrific double act as the loud-mouthed Dave and Pete, proving the traditional loutish view of the English abroad. Their version of “Underneath the Arches,” as part of an entertainment where all the kibbutzniks have to perform something that represents their country, is a comic delight with an ending that says all there is to say about how disgruntled and browbeaten Englanders see their identity.

Miranda Braun does well with the slightly-written Carrie, the undeserving butt of so many of Dave and Pete’s remarks, though it’s hard to deal with the character’s inconsistency from one scene to the next. Russell Bentley holds things nicely together as a calm Ami.

The staging has seating on three sides which gives a suitably claustrophobic feel to the kibbutz set (Ceci Calf) and there are some beautiful moments in the lighting (Ryan Stafford), particularly when the Middle Eastern sun beams life, light and promise through the wooden slats.

“Not Quite Jerusalem” has not quite survived the test of time, but still manages to come across thanks to this production as a disturbing and challenging state of the nation commentary.

BOATMAN TOWN at Isis Farmhouse

★★★★★

“a delightful evening, skilfully performed by a great ensemble, proof positive of the magic of theatre”

BOATMAN TOWN at Isis Farmhouse

Reviewed on 24th February 2024

by David Woodward

Photography by Geraint Lewis

Boatman Town is touring pubs in Oxfordshire and London – click here for full details

Other Creation Theatre shows:

BOATMAN TOWN