Tag Archives: Anna Lewis

Outlying Islands

Outlying Islands
★★★★

King’s Head Theatre

Outlying Islands

Outlying Islands

King’s Head Theatre

Reviewed – 15th January 2019

★★★★

 

“Jessica Lazar’s accomplished direction brings out the very best in her four-strong cast, and it is clear how grounded they each feel in the play’s reality”

 

David Greig’s Outlying Islands was first produced in 2002, and has not been seen in London since then. It is an exceptional piece of dramatic writing, and Atticist’s intense and intelligent revival serves it well.

It is 1939; John and Robert are two keen young ornithologists, fresh out of Cambridge, who have been sent by ‘the Ministry’ to study and document the extraordinary and hitherto unexamined bird population on a remote island in the Outer Hebrides. They will spend four weeks on the island – 40 miles from the nearest inhabited land – with no radio and no boat. Their only company will be the island’s leaseholder and his niece. The stage is thus set for a compelling play examining our relationship with wildness – in nature, in ourselves, and in one another. What happens to us when we are divorced from conventional societal mores? What is the role of science in our understanding of the natural world? The play is set at the outset of a long and bloody world war, in which millions of people are set to die; many of them young men, with an unwavering sense of faith and moral duty. What do those things actually mean? And what is it, really, to be free? These are big questions, and it takes a playwright at the height of their powers to wrestle with them without sacrificing humour, warmth and the wonderful messiness of being human. David Greig is that writer here, and is supported by deft direction and design and a very able cast.

The production design perfectly reflects the island’s peculiar and seductive mix of austerity and profound, instinctive, animal, pleasure. There is nothing showy here, and yet we are continually aware – not least owing to Christopher Preece’s excellent sound design – of the wind, the waves, the birds, and the earthy warmth and comfort of the disused chapel. The huge wooden door, which separates the two worlds, dominates the set, and although the boys’ early slapstick interaction with it didn’t quite convince, it nonetheless remains a powerful physical metaphor throughout the piece, and the dangerous energy of the liminal space is palpable when the door is held open for a time in the gathering storm of the play’s second half.

Jessica Lazar’s accomplished direction brings out the very best in her four-strong cast, and it is clear how grounded they each feel in the play’s reality. Jack McMillan is heartbreakingly believable as John – full of sweetness and enthusiasm, but ultimately unable to break through the many societal constrictions placed on him. By way of contrast, Tom Machell’s Robert is incisive, impulsive, mercurial; at home in this wild place from the moment he steps off the boat. Ken Drury is a splendid hoary presence as Kirk, and demonstrates considerable skill in his later transformation into the upright English Captain come to take the boys home, and the island’s lease-holders back to the mainland. And surrounded by all these men – a new circumstance for this solitary, cinema-loving creature – Ellen ultimately makes the island her own. Rose Wardlaw gives an extraordinary performance, and is utterly mesmerising throughout. As we watch her fill her lungs with air, stretch out her cramped wings and embrace the wildness within her, we too are transported to a place of dangerous possibility.

Outlying Islands is Atticist’s second production at the King’s Head, after its barnstorming revival of Steven Berkoff’s East, and its first as an Associate Company. It marks a fantastic beginning to an exciting artistic partnership; long may it continue.

 

Reviewed by Rebecca Crankshaw

Photography by Clive Barda

 


Outlying Islands

King’s Head Theatre until 2nd February

 

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:
And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens | ★★★★ | August 2018
Hamilton (Lewis) | ★★★ | September 2018
Canoe | ★★★½ | October 2018
La Traviata | ★★★★ | October 2018
No Leaves on my Precious Self | ★★ | October 2018
Beauty and the Beast: A Musical Parody | ★★★★★ | November 2018
Brexit | ★★★★★ | November 2018
Buttons: A Cinderella Story | ★★★★ | November 2018
Momma Golda | ★★★ | November 2018
The Crumple Zone | ★★ | November 2018

 

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

 

Dangerous Giant Animals – 3 Stars

Dangerous Giant Animals

Dangerous Giant Animals

Park Theatre

Reviewed – 28th October 2018

★★★

“Murdock’s writing shines for the majority of the show – it’s beautifully human and relatable”

 

It is always exciting when a play gives voice to a rarely heard story. This is one of them; exploring the difficulties of being a sibling carer. However, Dangerous Giant Animals is also the story of a play that sabotages its exceptional beginning and middle with a bafflingly smug ending.

We see Christina Murdock (who also wrote the play) travel through a series of snapshot journeys as Clare, who grew up having to care for her disabled sister, from ages seven to seventeen. The effects on Clare’s family life and education are tumultuous as she tries to balance providing adequate care for her sister, while also having to overcome her guilt for having to make choices that will benefit her life. Murdock’s performance is masterful, as she paints the world before her eyes with staggering clarity and simplicity, while still conveying the complexities of her situation. This is aided by the smart design of the set (Anna Lewis), sound (Nicola Chang), and lighting (David Doyle) that all layer on generous helpings of atmosphere and meaning without ever feeling intrusive.

Murdock’s writing shines for the majority of the show – it’s beautifully human and relatable, and consistently harnesses the drama in the domesticity of any situation. The middle of the show in particular features a string of breathless sequences featuring Clare on a heart-breaking car journey, and later trying to calm down her sister. However, directly following this, Dangerous Giant Animals undermines all the stellar work it had done thus far.

All momentum is ground to a halt as the play feels the need to directly address the audience, condescending them for assuming the plot was going in a particular direction (although given the script makes no prior allusion that this direction was a possibility, it’s a pretty baseless accusation). The show then congratulates itself on being smart and subversive, which feels totally misguided and is deeply disappointing to watch. In the space of a minute, Dangerous Giant Animals descends from having the audience in the palm of its hand to antagonising them for no logical reason. This was a huge misstep on the part of Murdock as well as co-directors Jessica Lazar and Adriana Moore, that consequently makes the remainder of the show simply feel pretentious and self-indulgent.

Dangerous Giant Animals is mostly a touching and insightful deep-dive into an important issue, that’s capped off by a frustrating end that vilifies its audience. I sincerely hope that alterations are made before the show transfers to the Tristan Bates Theatre that will bring a more consistent level of quality, and do justice to the story being told.

 

Reviewed by Tom Francis

 


Dangerous Giant Animals

Park Theatre

 

SIT-Up Sunday also included:
And Before I Forget I Love you, I Love you | ★★★★ | October 2018

 

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