Tag Archives: Chris White

Citysong

Citysong
★★★★

Soho Theatre

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Citysong

Citysong

Soho Theatre

Reviewed – 14th June 2019

★★★★

 

“The devilishly witty and highly complex poetic rhythms entice you in”

 

Winner of the 2017 Verity Bargate Award for new-writers, author Dylan Coburn Gray brings his love letter to Dublin on to the London stage.

Citysong began its life as a commission for a spoken word festival. It tells the story of three generations of a Dublin family on one day and passes through time as the characters reflect and reminisce. The play starts off with a taxi driver telling us of his fares and their reason for journeying around the City, he speaks of his family and we see Dublin through his eyes, until the story effortlessly moves to another inhabitant. We have lovely scenes with keenly focussed observations on first love, meeting the parents, teenage awkwardness and a delightful moment in a delivery ward to name but a few. It reflects everyday people, “Everyone belongs in a city and yet everyone is only passing through”.

Set designer (Sarah Bacon) has given us a stripped-back, bare set apart from a few nondescript chairs and tables and a stunning abstract, fractured glass backdrop in the shape of Dublin and its coastline. When a piece of this crashed to the stage ten minutes before curtain up, I was left on tenterhooks every time an actor came through the door within this structure. Thankfully all was well and I hope there are no issues moving forward as the reflections and light coming from this backdrop are utterly unique. Sound (Adrienne Quartly) has an almost constant single note, similar, although lower in tone to when you run your finger around the top of a glass, occasionally it breaks into a tune before correcting itself. This and a constant high screen of dry ice and moody lighting (Paul Keogan) add to the atmosphere.

Director (Caitríona McLaughlin) has lovingly passed this script to a six-strong ensemble. She has created some delightful shapes on a fairly limited space and allowed the actors to express themselves. A cast of just six (Amy Conroy, Daryl McCormack, Jade Jordan, Blaithín MacGabhann, Clare McKenna and Dan Monaghan) playing sixty characters is a heck of a challenge. But without exception, each of them proves themself to be highly versatile, a pair of glasses here, a baseball cap there and you are with them immediately. Everyone has their time to shine and they are all a joy to watch, only on a couple of rare occasions did a small characterisation fall slightly flat.

The play is described as a “Modern day Dublin’s Under Milk Wood”. I hope it shakes off this tag, as it is more than able to stand on its own two feet. The staging is fascinating, the acting is delightful, but the real star is the script itself. The devilishly witty and highly complex poetic rhythms entice you in, wrap you in a warm, comfortable blanket and at the end, gently put you to one side with a satisfied smile on your face. This really is an absolute delight.

 

Reviewed by Chris White

Photography by Ros Kavanagh

 


Citysong

Soho Theatre until 6th July

 

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:
Laura | ★★★½ | December 2018
No Show | ★★★★ | January 2019
Garrett Millerick: Sunflower | ★★★★ | February 2019
Soft Animals | ★★★★ | February 2019
Angry Alan | ★★★★ | March 2019
Mouthpiece | ★★★ | April 2019
Tumulus | ★★★★ | April 2019
William Andrews: Willy | ★★★★★ | April 2019
Does My Bomb Look Big In This? | ★★★★ | May 2019
Hotter | ★★★★★ | May 2019

 

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bottled

BOTTLED

★★★★★

VAULT Festival 2019

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bottled

Bottled

The Vaults

Reviewed – 14th February 2019

★★★★★

 

“a stellar debut, thoroughly researched with keen dialogue”

 

It is rare for theatre to leave the audience silently stunned in the final blackout. However, Bottled will succeed in rendering you utterly speechless, trying and failing to hold back tears. For a debut playwright and performed by such a youthful cast, it’s an awesome achievement.

Katy, simultaneously played by Alice Vilanculo, Isabel Stone and Hayley Wareham, introduces herself to us on her fifteenth birthday. Over the course of the next hour we follow her as she gets a boyfriend, studies for her GCSEs and tries to get on with her mum’s new boyfriend, Brian. Brian seems alright at first, apart from his baking of strawberry flavoured cakes (Katy’s least favourite) he actually seems like a cool guy, offering to pay for Katy’s Spanish holiday with her mates and taking her fishing. But gradually her mum stops seeing her friends, Aunty Carol doesn’t come round anymore, and mum has quit her job because Brian can look after the both of them on his own. It doesn’t take long before Katy’s mum is isolated and Katy starts to notice purple patterns around her mother’s eye.

Exploring domestic abuse from the perspective of a teenager, and someone whose life is secondarily affected by manipulation, violence and fear is deeply emotive. Katy’s innocence and naivety means it just hurts harder. Each of the three actors portray their own emphasis and interpretation but form a hive mind on stage so that each is a distinct part of Katy.

Hayley Wareham’s script is cleverly balanced, introducing Katy as a bright, witty and ambitious young girl who’s aware of the absurdities of modern life. You immediately warm to her through humour but ultimately empathise with sincerity as you see how quickly circumstances can change. It’s a stellar debut, thoroughly researched with keen dialogue. The piece sensitively and subtly explores the current failings of the welfare system, in which refuge centres, hostels and temporary housing make it painfully difficult to sustain a life free from abuse, let alone thrive with one.

Chris White’s direction is necessarily stylised having multiple actors playing the same character. This has the effect of actually elevating the horror of the situation through echoes, amplification and repetition of sound and movement (Jess Tucker Boyd). Conversely, the set and lighting is sparse, with no more than a handful of props used with surprising utility coming from helium balloons.

Bottled makes for a truly affecting piece filled with emotional urgency that certainly proves it’s not about big budgets when it comes to impactful theatre.

 

Reviewed by Amber Woodward

Photography by Slav Kirichok

 

Vault Festival 2019

Bottled

Part of VAULT Festival 2019

 

 

 

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