Camden People's Theatre Archives - Page 4 of 13

Trigger Warning

Camden People’s Theatre

Reviewed – 24th October 2019

★★★

“has an interesting premise, but ultimately, it is a bit hit-and-miss”

The notion being ‘triggered’ is certainly a hot topic of cultural and artistic debate. ‘Trigger Warning’ tackles this head on, as audience members are guided through a minefield of possible triggers for their upcoming performance of ‘Hope’. The play is a mix of elements reminiscent of ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ and David Attenborough’s ‘Planet Earth’, combined together in what certainly is a statement piece.

Audiences are directly addressed from the very beginning by a duo of energetic and some-what frazzled flight attendants, played by Kath Duggan and Daniel Hay-Gordon. The play itself is structured in two halves; the first consists of audiences being prepped for the story ahead called ‘Hope’ which may or may not ever take place. Warnings include that it may make us feel a certain way, including boredom and frustration. The directorial decisions by Natasha Nixon are very strong, as the performers use clowning and voice-overs to tremendous comedic effect. Duggan and Hay-Gordon’s knowing glances, elastic facial expressions and needless faffing about with failing props make for a series of guaranteed laughs. The beginning sequence is inexplicably hilarious: however, this is unfortunately short-lived.

The second section, in which the play ‘Hope’ takes place, is incredibly confusing and loses the momentum that had been set by the strong opening. Audiences are then told of the story of ‘Hope’, a young migrant who was crossing the border. The narrative is unclear as we are told to read a ‘synopsis’ that we had not been given. This is clearly ironic, but it is then followed by Duggan and Hay-Gordon staring at the audience for five minutes whilst elevator music plays. Nixon’s direction in the second half loses the sense of pace and energy created in the first twenty minutes of action. It does, however, fulfil the trigger warning given of creating feelings of boredom and frustration.

The play’s design (Lily Arnold) is striking yet satisfying. Bold pastel colours frame the stage and costumes. Sound (Owen Crouch) and lighting effects (Amy Daniels) feature very heavily throughout. In particular, we never hear Hay-Gordon’s character speak, he lip-syncs all his lines. The most exciting design element is on the audience’s entry to the space, as we see Duggan struggling to pull a huge pink carpet through what appeared to be a side window. It is a spectacle made by the illusion that the window was going directly into the street. Concepts of the space itself are reversed, as we entered through the fire exit outside the theatre and exited through the entrance. It is details like these that summarises the play’s irreverent playfulness.

This play has an interesting premise, but ultimately, it is a bit hit-and-miss. This dark comedy teeters around the edges of offence and acceptability. However, it is done so in a way that is so conceptual that it often leaves the viewer completely perplexed.

Reviewed by Emily Morris

Photography by Harry Elletson

Trigger Warning

Camden People’s Theatre until 9th November

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Hot Flushes – The Musical | ★★★ | June 2019

Ophelia Rewound | ★★★★ | August 2019

The Indecent Musings Of Miss Doncaster 2007 | ★★★½ | August 2019

A Haunted Existence | ★★★★ | October 2019

Click here to see our most recent reviews

★★★★

“It is a work of exquisite, tender beauty. A unique evening at the theatre.”

Camden People’s Theatre is an intimate venue. The theatre itself holds 60 people, and the pre-show meeting space is not unlike a little tea room, cosy and informal. It always seems slightly out of time, and set apart from 21st century London. Tom Marshman couldn’t have chosen a more appropriate place to stage his deeply touching and beautifully crafted piece of theatre, created in response to a piece of 1950s British queer history.

Marshman makes it clear from the outset that he is a storyteller. There is no ‘acting’ here; instead he talks to us, lip syncs, shows us images, plays us records and reads us letters, all of which serve the story that he wants to share. In 1953, a young gay man – Geoffrey Patrick Williamson – made sexual overtures to an older man on a railway train. This older man turned out to be a Railway Officer in plain clothes, and their encounter led to a court case, as a result of which 17 men were arrested, and nine sent to prison.

Marshman has researched the men involved in this case and the show is the result of his discoveries. Research of this kind can seem a rather dry and dusty pursuit; academic and removed from the emotional world. Nothing could be further from the truth here. Tom Marshman’s work is infused with tenderness. He handles these men’s stories with the greatest love and care, and there is a gentleness inherent in his movement on stage, and in the perfectly chosen 1950s records that he plays that provide his musical score. This is no nostalgic comfort-zone however. Although there are some happy endings, the persecution of these men destroyed lives, and also led to a suicide. Their treatment was brutal; the facts speak for themselves.

A Haunted Existence avoids sentimentality as it is artistically precise. Marshman is most definitely an artist, and one of exceptional skill. The gauze projections could stand alone as an artwork, merging, as they do, archive footage, and newly created black and white images of Marshman himself as period characters in the story. His movement too is spare – whether it be the semaphore alphabet that we see at the top of the show or the mesmeric solo ballroom dancing sequence a little later on – and it is beautiful. Marshman also lip syncs to the clipped 1950s tones of the presiding judge in the case, and to the words of Lord Owen, which laid early foundations for the Wolfenden report a decade later. This is, unexpectedly, extraordinarily moving, and a welcome reminder of the truly subversive power of this gay cabaret skill. Wonderful too, to have a brief lesson in Polari thrown into the mix, and a treat to hear that arch and creative language of subterfuge spoken out loud.

The effect of the whole is that of a delicate layering, a collage, reflecting the process, the careful unravelling of very personal and yet profoundly resonant histories.

It is a work of exquisite, tender beauty. A unique evening at the theatre. Bravo.

Reviewed by Rebecca Crankshaw

Photography by Matt Glover

Camden People’s Theatre

Reviewed – 24th October 2019

★★★

“has an interesting premise, but ultimately, it is a bit hit-and-miss”

This play has an interesting premise, but ultimately, it is a bit hit-and-miss. This dark comedy teeters around the edges of offence and acceptability. However, it is done so in a way that is so conceptual that it often leaves the viewer completely perplexed.

Reviewed by Emily Morris

Photography by Harry Elletson

Trigger Warning

Camden People’s Theatre until 9th November

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Camden People’s Theatre

Reviewed – 2nd October 2019

★★★★

“It is a work of exquisite, tender beauty. A unique evening at the theatre.”

The effect of the whole is that of a delicate layering, a collage, reflecting the process, the careful unravelling of very personal and yet profoundly resonant histories.

It is a work of exquisite, tender beauty. A unique evening at the theatre. Bravo.

Reviewed by Rebecca Crankshaw

Photography by Matt Glover

A Haunted Existence

Camden People’s Theatre until 4th October

Previously reviewed at this venue: