Tag Archives: Ally Poole

Don’t Talk to Strangers

★★★★

VAULT Festival 2020

ReviewsAlly Poole, Don't Talk to Strangers, Elana Binysh, Hot Cousin, Madeleine Lewis, Stephanie Fuller, VAULT Festival 2020, Vicky Richardsthespyinthestalls

Don’t Talk to Strangers

Forge – The Vaults

Reviewed – 27th February 2020

★★★★

“strikes the perfect balance between fun and thought provoking”

A mix-tape made for aliens, with a love story embedded in its formation. That is the history of the Golden Record – the message sent out to aliens on Voyager 1 and 2 – the legacy of which theatre collective Hot Cousin sets out to interrogate and play with in this wonderfully immersive and eclectic piece of theatre. Part of VAULT festival, Don’t Talk to Strangers sees Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan (both leads on the project) reimagined as dreamy lovers who croon to each other in space puns and describe how their love influenced the record of humanity they created.

As it pastiches both their love story and their creative vision, the show aims to explore the power dynamics behind the record – the omissions, the inevitable colonialism – but does so in a way that blends seamlessly into wider questions of what it means to be human. How could we ever represent the infinite variety of our whole species on just one record, is the question the play asks, and it is an incredibly effective one.

The show takes the form of a series of vignettes featuring Sagan, Druyan, a manic interviewer, and a mysterious pink alien. Some are silly, some are dramatic, and some veer away from dialogue altogether into moments of pure emotion, dance, and sound. Cast together, they are weird, experimental theatre at its finest.

Each member of the company takes on a role – Elana Binysh (Interviewer), Stephanie Fuller (Druyan), Madeleine Lewis (Alien), and Ally Poole (Sagan) – but those feel like a limited way to describe their participation in the performance. All depict more than simple characters; they are convincing, inviting, and make the audience feel truly involved in what could have easily been repetitive and overdone scenes.

From the beginning, the show emphasises sound will be important – after all, that is what was sent out on the record – and it provides a subtle backbone for the show. Classical music, disco, remixed breathing, wailing, and other sounds fuse together as the show goes on, all complimented by groovy disco ball lighting. The staging is simple, with a record player often the focus, but allows the cast plenty of movement to explore their multi-dimensional parts.

All in all, in its short but sweet running time Don’t Talk to Strangers strikes the perfect balance between fun and thought provoking. And if you leave with nothing else, at least you’ll have witnessed a jazzy galactic funk remix of Beethoven’s 5th symphony that you didn’t know was missing from your life.

Reviewed by Vicky Richards

Click here to see all our reviews from VAULT Festival 2020

Essence

★★½

VAULT Festival 2020

ReviewsAlbert Owl, Ally Poole, Essence, Nina Barker-Francis, Sarah Henley, Timothy O'Hara, Tori Allen-Martin, VAULT Festival 2020thespyinthestalls

Essence

Crescent – The Vaults

Reviewed – 21st February 2020

★★½

“A more nuanced approach to this narrative would’ve made this script by Sarah Henley, far more successful”

Elyot (Timothy O’Hara) is living a life of strict routine, a life that avoids external forces. He rotates wordless records that he plays on his gramophone, his alarm is going off constantly, moving him on to the next thing, keeping him in motion (sound design by Ally Poole). He is counting down his life with a week by week tally. He has two plants that he spritzes regularly, and he is building a boat. He’s here and ready to improve. Until Laquaya (Nina Barker-Francis) climbs through his window, dancing into the stage space, and kicking over his plant. She’s 14, she’s a feminist and until recently, a young carer – and she’s here to meet her father. Over the course of the play the two very different characters find commonality, sharing a loneliness that the other might be the cure for.

The themes of ‘Essence’ are well worth exploring – loneliness, grief, difference, separated family members – but the writing is too heavy handed. Elyot’s transformation feels like flipping a switch it happens so fast, and as a result doesn’t feel believable. And his process of acceptance is too literally presented to the audience. A more nuanced approach to this narrative would’ve made this script by Sarah Henley, far more successful. Whilst the final scene is lovely, the best in the play, it feels like an obvious destination for the narrative.

Nina Barker-Francis is a brilliant presence on stage, full of energy and warmth and honesty. Her entrance lifts the piece and it is her we are rooting for through out. Timothy O’Hara is also strong, but he has a harder job with such an insular character that doesn’t bring much energy to the stage. He is particularly lovely in the final scene as we see the character begin to come out of himself and let go. Henley creates two very different characters and in doing so puts an unusual and interesting dynamic onstage.

The stage, set up as Elyot’s home, features all the components for his routine. As he begins to accept Laquaya in his life, these components evolve as he does. The themes and the characters are the strength of this show, delivered by our two actors. But the narrative itself lacks the nuance that this story requires.

Reviewed by Albert Owl

Click here to see all our reviews from VAULT Festival 2020