This fresh-faced company of actors, straight out of the National Youth Theatre are a marvellous inspiration for aspiring actors and women.
A Womb of One’s Own is a new piece of writing (Claire Rammelkamp) that will attract a young audience with its themes of coming of age, sex and sexuality, and abortion. Plugging key facts such as ‘1 in 3 women in the UK have abortions’, and asking questions like ‘Where are all the abortion clinics?’ and ‘Why isn’t anyone talking about this?’, the writing touches on some challenging topics with enthusiastic actors showing us how young women’s sexual health can be side-lined by society.
The writing did ebb and flow in places, and a few misplaced moments of comedy and awkwardness sometimes made for an unsure audience.
Nerves did appear to get the better of a couple of this youthful bunch, and a few lines were lost to over enthusiasm and a quick pace, but Carla Garratt shone throughout and gave the most consistent performance.
The venue (The Space on the Isle of Dogs) is an intimate one and the bubbly cafe attached gave it some good vibes which were fitting for the piece. The lighting and set (Olivia Early) were basic yet effective.
Overall a great production with a few hiccups owing to nerves and writing. At 60 minutes it was a fast paced piece in which a little too much was packed in a little too tightly. Overall 3 stars for these up and coming artists.
