Camden Fringe 2019 Archives - Page 13 of 16

[ Title of Show ]

Moors Bar Theatre

Reviewed – 7th August 2019

★★★

“This play does carry a strong message, which director Eleanor Felton expertly highlights”

The Camden Fringe promotes itself as a chance to see edgy, experimental and brand new theatre. To be invited to see a show called [ title of show ] therefore didn’t raise much of an eyebrow, although I do wonder how many people bypass the play due to the ambiguity of the title. I however was intrigued and turned up with an open mind, an open notebook and a slightly puzzled expression on my face.

It turns out that this is the story of Jeff, Heidi, Hunter and Susan, writing a musical about Jeff, Heidi, Hunter and Susan. They give themselves three and a half weeks to write a script and submit it to a festival with the ultimate hope that it might be a hit and end up on Broadway. Not having a specific idea for a plot, they sit down to write the first things that come into their heads and to document for inclusion, all conversations that they hold.

The small, square stage was decorated by four simple, wooden chairs. These were well used and effortlessly moved around. The simple lighting was used to good effect.

An original idea for a script, a lot of the obvious gags were used early on and the dialogue did at times become a little repetitive, although many of the ‘under the breath’ quips were very nicely done particularly by Susan. Writing can be a tortuous, lonely task and watching people struggling for ideas to move their piece on, didn’t always make for the most compulsive viewing, despite us being told that ‘Writing should be as easy as a monkey driving a speedboat’!.

But this is a musical and any show from this genre will live or die by its musical numbers. Fortunately, the four strong cast (William Tippery, Charlotte Denton, Kieran Parrott and Alyssa LeClair) are all blessed with equally strong singing voices, the harmonies were a highlight and filled the room with the most gorgeous sounds, all under the expert accompaniment of Robert Hazle who was so skilled, that at times you never even noticed his on-point playing.

Highlights, were the opening number “No Title”, the delightful “Stuck In A Role Playing Me” the cleverly written and well delivered “Who Is Heidi, Who Is Susan” and the amusing “Unwanted Photo-Shoot”. Oddly, my only real issue with the music was the finale. A cracking, uplifting number was belted out and drew whoops and applause, only to be followed by a downbeat, final number which took the wind a little out of the sails.

The show ran out of steam a little in its final third, “I want to have substance. not fluff” one of the actors cried, a small amount of editing and a little more substance would in my opinion, help the show to roll along at a better pace.

I have to mention the ‘Relaxed Performance’ that this company are putting on this Friday afternoon for adults or young adults with autism or complex sensory needs. A lovely idea and I wish them every success with this venture.

This play does carry a strong message, which director Eleanor Felton expertly highlights. Be inspired to take a risk and do the thing that you’ve been wanting to do, do it for three weeks and then show somebody. You may have a gem?

Thank you Plan Z Theatre for an interesting evening, if anybody wants me, I’ll be available in three weeks time…

Reviewed by Chris White

Pictures by Joel M Photography

[ Title of Show ]

Moors Bar until 10th August as part of Camden Fringe 2019

Previous shows covered by this reviewer:

Citysong | ★★★★ | Soho Theatre | June 2019

Little Light | ★★★ | The Tower Theatre | June 2019

Feel The Love | ★★★★ | Chickenshed Theatre | July 2019

Parenthood | ★★★½ | The Space | July 2019

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Alpha Who?

Cockpit Theatre

Reviewed – 7th August 2019

★★★

“a production to enjoy for the spectacle – and not, perhaps, for interrogating the themes too much”

Male suicide rates may be falling, but three of every four people losing their life to suicide in the UK are men. Toxic masculinity is on the rise and better understood, and gender roles are being interrogated more than perhaps ever before. Time, then, for a scrutiny of ‘the masculine’, and this is what creator and performer Matt Franco sets out to do, with remarkable physical vigour, in Alpha Who?

In Franco there’s definitely a sense that the audience are seeing something special. The physicality of this hour-long, one-man theatre and dance piece is astonishing, and it’s no surprise that Franco is drenched in sweat by the time the show ends. He displays a real muscular exertion as he contorts and hurls his frame around in display of the tensions between emotional expression and traditional interpretations of masculinity.

This, though, is perhaps where the production falters. This central premise – that if emotions and vulnerability remain unexpressed, men suffer – is not a new one, after all. There are some striking expressions of the physical impacts of repression, including some uncomfortable but effective on-stage urination, but by the end it feels as though we’ve seen at least one too many scenes of torrid contortions as feelings are variously contained or expelled.

Given, then, that this central tenet of the hazards of male emotional illiteracy is well recognised, there are missed chances here for wider exploration through Franco’s remarkable skill in movement. Frustratingly, even in seeking to explore these themes, some of the existing hoary stereotypes are in fact further cemented; the programme says that ‘if we’re to heal wounds that men hold within themselves, we must first explore how to engage the feminine within’ which surely only serves to sustain the binary ‘emotions = feminine’ that the piece is seeking to disrupt.

Similarly, is it helpful that the on-stage screens that serve effectively as artworks, maps, shields and cages here are pointedly pink and splashed with shapes calling to mind female genitalia? The closing scene is full of the promise of redemption, as our everyman moves towards a fuller range of emotional expression – but in the staging, as pinkish light shines through a screen and silhouettes a foetal Franco, are we being told that to thrive, the ‘masculine’ must simply become feminine? A healthier ‘man’ might perhaps be one for whom emotional health has been defined on its own terms, without needing to continue with the binary of male vs female (and on that note, given that the complexity of gender and its expression is becoming more fully recognised, it feels neglectful that the over-simplicity of ‘male vs female’ isn’t acknowledged).

Missed opportunities feel especially frustrating here given the calibre on display. The quality displayed in lighting design is perhaps explained by the notably large four-strong team of Naia Burucoa, Gail Sixsmith, Saverio Tonoli and Franco himself, and the music, by Sabio Janiak, is excellent. Alpha Who? is a production to enjoy for the spectacle – and not, perhaps, for interrogating the themes too much, at risk of being disappointed.

Moors Bar Theatre

Reviewed – 7th August 2019

★★★

“This play does carry a strong message, which director Eleanor Felton expertly highlights”

The small, square stage was decorated by four simple, wooden chairs. These were well used and effortlessly moved around. The simple lighting was used to good effect.

The show ran out of steam a little in its final third, “I want to have substance. not fluff” one of the actors cried, a small amount of editing and a little more substance would in my opinion, help the show to roll along at a better pace.

I have to mention the ‘Relaxed Performance’ that this company are putting on this Friday afternoon for adults or young adults with autism or complex sensory needs. A lovely idea and I wish them every success with this venture.

This play does carry a strong message, which director Eleanor Felton expertly highlights. Be inspired to take a risk and do the thing that you’ve been wanting to do, do it for three weeks and then show somebody. You may have a gem?

Thank you Plan Z Theatre for an interesting evening, if anybody wants me, I’ll be available in three weeks time…

Reviewed by Chris White

Pictures by Joel M Photography

[ Title of Show ]

Moors Bar until 10th August as part of Camden Fringe 2019

Previous shows covered by this reviewer:

Cockpit Theatre

Reviewed – 7th August 2019

★★★

“a production to enjoy for the spectacle – and not, perhaps, for interrogating the themes too much”

Reviewed by Abi Davies

Photography by Saverio Tonoli

Alpha Who?

Cockpit Theatre until 9th August as part of Camden Fringe 2019

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: