Tag Archives: Bread and Roses Theatre

SOBRIETY ON THE ROCKS

Sobriety on the Rocks

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Bread and Roses Theatre

SOBRIETY ON THE ROCKS

Sobriety on the Rocks

Bread and Roses Theatre

Reviewed – 21st July 2022

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“an intoxicating performance, soused in brutal honesty”

 

Renee Buckland bursts into the room with the energy of a prize fighter; alone, vulnerable but with a feisty determination. The opponent is a bottle of hard liquor. A rope skirts the stage. The metaphor is complete as she adjusts the rope from time to time, suggesting who might have the upper hand. This is a character who is truly wrestling with drink.

Or rather – characters. Buckland turns the concept of a one woman show into a sharply honed ensemble piece. With no set or costume change, her ability to switch roles in the blink of an eye practically creates the illusion of a company. Four characters, indelibly linked. Caught in the same armlock. Richard’s life is on the rocks as he is recovering in hospital following a drunken car accident. Forced into drying out, all he has to look forward to are the criminal charges he faces on discharge. His is the pivotal character that poses the question as to whether his alcoholism is a disease or a choice. His wife, Cherie, is back at home picking up the pieces. Does she try to reassemble them? Or has she had enough? It is an impossible choice to make. Their son, Jamie, is teetering on adulthood, staggering under the effects of an alcoholic dad, while trying to walk in a straight line. Kimberley, the paramedic who saves Richard’s life at the crash scene is battling with her own demons, and a past that cruelly divides her sympathies.

All these personalities avoid the stereotype, and Buckland delivers their stories and perspectives without lecturing or any leading questions. It is an intoxicating performance, soused in brutal honesty, enhanced by the knowledge that this play is pretty universal. Whether we like it or not, certain phrases are going to hit home and floor us. Mercifully, though, we are often brought round again with Buckland’s innate sense of humour. Tadeas Moravec’s dynamic direction gives her the freedom to switch moods with a shapeshifter’s ease.

Inspired by real events, and pieced together from conversations with an alcoholic and his family, the play’s verbatim feel does detract ever so slightly from the real emotional punch. We are naggingly aware of the vicarious narrative, so the poignancy sometimes loses its bite. But another shot of Buckland’s spirited performance can make us forget. It is a heady cocktail; overflowing with undiluted flavours (sometimes too many). The paradoxes are explored and researched in depth. One is reminded of the old joke: β€œHow many therapists does it take to change a lightbulb?”. β€œJust one, but the lightbulb has to really want to change.” Those in the profession baulk at the flippancy and refuse to equate β€˜failure to change’ with β€˜lack of desire’.

Is alcoholism a disease or a choice? Is it selfish to let your five-year-old child find you on the bathroom floor in a pool of your own piss and vomit? Do you try to resuscitate a drunk driver on the roadside knowing that your brother was previously an innocent, fatal victim of such an act? How many chances do you give your washed-out husband, given your marital vows of β€˜in sickness and in health’? Is an alcoholic deprived of a drink synonymous with somebody deprived of their parent/child/sibling/friend/partner…? These are just whispers of the full conversation going on onstage. Many more questions are asked.

The show cannot claim, or attempt, to offer any answers. It enlightens us, however. Whatever your assumptions, or personal brushes with the topic, β€œSobriety on the Rocks” is, if not definitive, a vital piece of theatre; with the bonus of being richly entertaining. It is difficult to make such serious topics palatable, but Buckland achieves it. Fittingly, the late Elliott Smith’s song, β€˜Between the Bars’, plays us out. An elegiac paean to alcoholism, it has a hauntingly addictive refrain. Similarly, β€œSobriety on the Rocks” will have you hooked.

 

 

 

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Andrew Williams

 


Sobriety on the Rocks

Bread and Roses Theatre until 23rd July ahead of Edinburgh Festival Fringe 15th – 20th August

 

This year’s top rated shows so far:

Blood Brothers | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Theatre Royal Windsor | January 2022
Holst: The Music in the Spheres | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Jack Studio Theatre | January 2022
Richard II | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Jack Studio Theatre | February 2022
Legacy | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Menier Chocolate Factory | March 2022
Triffids! | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Arts Depot | March 2022
For Black Boys … | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Royal Court Theatre | April 2022
The Homecoming | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Cambridge Arts Theatre | April 2022
Witness For The Prosecution | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | London County Hall | April 2022
Til Death do us Part | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Theatre503 | May 2022
Tomorrow May Be My Last | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Old Red Lion Theatre | May 2022
Machine de Cirque | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Peacock Theatre | June 2022
Mad House | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Ambassadors Theatre | June 2022
Flat and Curves | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Toulouse Lautrec | July 2022
Hungry | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Soho Theatre | July 2022
Fashion Freak Show | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Roundhouse | July 2022

 

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Big Girl

Big Girl

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Bread and Roses Theatre

Big Girl

Big Girl

Bread & Roses Theatre

Reviewed – 18th September 2020

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“Rooney has great charisma and is clearly a born entertainer”

 

Big Girl is a one woman show written, directed, and delivered by the twenty-three-year-old Emily J Rooney. Produced by Ryan Wilce and Luke Mosely, Big Girl fuses stand-up comedy and spoken word to chronicle Rooney’s experience growing up as a fat, queer, working-class woman from Essex. Amusing anecdotes abound, Rooney unashamedly talks about her embarrassing and naΓ―ve past as she works towards self-acceptance with admirable candour.

Rooney establishes a rapport with the audience immediately. Before the show begins, Rooney greets them as they enter the door while she casually drinks tea and enjoys a biscuit. She says, in pre-Covid times, the audience would have been welcome to a biscuit too. Rooney has everyone captivated throughout her performance, her exuberant personality a joy to watch on stage.

She begins the show talking about her weight, specifically, when she realised that she was fat. Rooney then speaks about learning to love her body, and her desire to see a world that is free of the notion that skinny is better. In the show’s next section, Rooney explores her realisation of her position in the class hierarchy after going to university, before rounding off the show with a brief look at her queerness. Each new theme is introduced via short spoken word pieces, all of which are beautifully written though jarringly different in tone from the rest of the performance.

Rooney explores some interesting topics during her show but unfortunately many stories trail off and are left unresolved, the meaning that the audience is meant to take away, unclear. For example, the section on body positivity is suddenly interrupted by a discussion on Essex sub-culture, which would fit far more naturally into her next section on class. Her discussion on her weight and physical appearance is overall pretty brief, and her positive relationship with her size a sudden reality rather than a journey the audience sees unfold. The final section – apparently focusing on her sexuality – also has little direction, and her monologue here only related to her queerness by the references to her girlfriend.

Rooney does draw links between her class, queerness, and fatness through her experience of these culminating in her overwhelming desire to make sure people feel comfortable. However, so much more could be explored. For example, the intersection between class and fatness, and the stigma that is attached to this. Similarly, the complicated relationship between queerness and fatness and its association with butch culture, opposite to the traditionally feminine. More discussion on how her identities interplay and feed into one another would certainly be welcome.

The Bread & Roses Theatre in Clapham is a small space even during normal times, and, due to social distancing, this has been further restricted to a capacity of around 20 people. This works well to create an intimate relationship between Rooney and the audience and is well-suited for the casual delivery of her stories. The stage is on a raised platform and empty apart from a small table on the left-hand side for refreshments. No props are used, except a printed news report about BMI that she pulled from her bra and quickly discarded. The lighting is simple, only varying when dimmed and making a reddish hue during the spoken word.

Emily J Rooney has great charisma and is clearly a born entertainer. However, some more nuanced discussion on the intersection between her key themes – class, queerness and fatness – would elevate Big Girl to a new level.

 

Reviewed by Flora Doble

Main photo by Poppy Marriott

 


Big Girl

Bread & Roses Theatre until 19th September

 

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:
Room Service | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | September 2019
The Bacchae | β˜…β˜…β˜… | September 2019
Trial Of Love | β˜…β˜…β˜…Β½ | September 2019
By The Light Of The Moon | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | October 2019
Smashing It! | β˜…β˜… | October 2019
The Gravy Bunch | β˜…β˜…Β½ | October 2019
The Signalman | β˜…β˜…β˜… | October 2019
Buzzing | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | January 2020
All Of Us Want Something To Get Over | β˜…β˜…β˜… | February 2020
F**k Off | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | August 2020

 

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