Cockpit Theatre Archives - Page 11 of 19

Bombshells

Cockpit Theatre

Reviewed – 17th August 2019

★★★½

“There’s a huge range of emotions evoked here, and the script is sharp enough that we see these feelings constantly shifting and evolving as they are expressed”

Written by Joanna Murray-Smith and directed by Sarah Howard, Bombshells is a one-woman show that tells the stories of four very different women. These characters are each brought to life in four separate monologues brilliantly delivered by Laura Ashenden.

Meryl Louise Davenport is struggling with three children, one of them a young baby, and wrestling with conflicting feelings about being a bad mother. She desperately loves her kids but feels judged by other mums. And she desperately needs a coffee…

Tiggy Entwistle is at a public-speaking event, making a presentation about her keen appreciation of cacti, but keeps being distracted by her recent break-up. She finds that succulents and lost love suddenly have everything in common…

Australian Theresa McTerry is about to be married. Squeezing into her wedding dress, she tried to convince us – and herself – how much she adores Ted and cannot wait to be his wife. But then it dawns on her what she’s letting herself in for…

Finally, Zoe Struthers is a Brooklyn-based singer, on tour and on stage, trying to keep her career afloat…

In a highly expressive performance that draws out every nuance of the clever writing, Laura Ashenden reveals the joy and despair that lurk in unexpected moments just beneath the surface of daily life. There’s a huge range of emotions evoked here, and the script is sharp enough that we see these feelings constantly shifting and evolving as they are expressed. A roller-coaster spectacle this energetic must have been exhausting to deliver across eighty minutes, but you’d never know it from the sheer energy on display.

The simple set consists of a dressing table, a clothes rail and – most strikingly – a colour-coded circle of high-heeled shoes from within which the monologues are relayed. Two of the pieces feature live music from a singer/guitarist and a drummer, which adds a certain richness to the ‘wedding party’ and ‘live-in-concert’ segments.

The opening story is the most effective and really gets inside the pressures and pains of new parenthood, with all the self-doubt and uncertainty that accompanies a life turned upside down. The closing story seems the weakest, with the least room for its protagonist to develop, perhaps because the parts that are sung prevent the rapid-fire verbal outpourings that make the other personalities so three-dimensional.

The strongest monologues blend brash humour and insightful observation with a touching pathos and vulnerability. The characters become fully believable people you recognise and sympathise with. By peering into these four women’s inner lives, Bombshells helps us better understand our own.

Reviewed by Stephen Fall

Photography by Robert Piwko

Bombshells

Cockpit Theatre until 18th August as part of Camden Fringe 2019

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Don’t You Dare! | ★★★ | November 2018

Unbelonger | ★★★½ | November 2018

L’Incoronazione Di Poppea | ★★★★ | January 2019

Mob Wife: A Mafia Comedy | ★★★ | January 2019

Cheating Death | ★★ | February 2019

Bed Peace: The Battle Of Yohn & Joko | ★★★ | April 2019

Lysistrata | ★★ | June 2019

Much Ado About Not(h)Ing | ★★★ | June 2019

Alpha Who? | ★★★ | August 2019

The Ideal Woman | ★★ | August 2019

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com

The Ideal Woman

Cockpit Theatre

Reviewed – 11th August 2019

★★

“whilst the Cognatus Theatre troupe clearly have good intentions, ‘The Ideal Woman’ brings nothing new to the conversation”

With the ‘time to make herstory’ tagline, and lengthy choruses of ‘I feel guilty (when I don’t smile, when I defend myself etc)’, ‘My mother told me (not to climb, to wear nice clothes, not to ask questions etc), and ‘We are rising, we are burning red’, the intention of ‘The Ideal Woman’ is clear: This century’s women’s movement is on a precipice of (hopefully) great change; moving from a very old restraining structure of what a woman should be, to something resembling equality and liberation.

But as much as I’m obviously a supporter of the ‘time’s up’/’me too’ campaigns, it won’t do to just state one’s belief in the women’s movement a bunch of times and call it content.

The setting consists of a web made of red thread, tied at four corners (presumably because women are caught in a society-spun web of restraint?) Four women approach from each corner of the room in beige underwear holding red candles and singing in a tribal chorus. For the next forty minutes some kind of narrative unfolds: starting with a tribute to motherhood, followed by a christening of some kind, and then a playground scene. There are moments of lucidity, but it’s mostly made up of abstract vignettes: Vinna Law performs a short aerial hoop routine, for example, whilst begging someone unseen for forgiveness; Morgana Baldissera approaches, kisses her on the forehead and wishes Law dead.

It’s simultaneously too abstract and lacking depth. The opening sequence was so stereotypically ‘performance art’, I assumed it was a parody, but it couldn’t have been more earnest. In fact this is its saving grace. It’s clear the whole cast has complete faith in their performance and the message they’re conveying – they are not cynical in any way. But, I’m afraid, stating that women have had a rough time of it, but that they’re not going to take it anymore, is old hat. At one point they straight up quote what I recall was a popular sign at the 2017 Women’s March, “We are the heirs of the witches they tried to burn.” This appears to have no reference to the show’s content, except that it’s an ‘empowering message’.

Unfortunately, whilst the Cognatus Theatre troupe clearly have good intentions, ‘The Ideal Woman’ brings nothing new to the conversation. It is only forty minutes, however, so there’s not much lost in dropping by and having a look for yourself.

Cockpit Theatre

Reviewed – 17th August 2019

★★★½

“There’s a huge range of emotions evoked here, and the script is sharp enough that we see these feelings constantly shifting and evolving as they are expressed”

Written by Joanna Murray-Smith and directed by Sarah Howard, Bombshells is a one-woman show that tells the stories of four very different women. These characters are each brought to life in four separate monologues brilliantly delivered by Laura Ashenden.

Meryl Louise Davenport is struggling with three children, one of them a young baby, and wrestling with conflicting feelings about being a bad mother. She desperately loves her kids but feels judged by other mums. And she desperately needs a coffee…

Tiggy Entwistle is at a public-speaking event, making a presentation about her keen appreciation of cacti, but keeps being distracted by her recent break-up. She finds that succulents and lost love suddenly have everything in common…

Australian Theresa McTerry is about to be married. Squeezing into her wedding dress, she tried to convince us – and herself – how much she adores Ted and cannot wait to be his wife. But then it dawns on her what she’s letting herself in for…

Finally, Zoe Struthers is a Brooklyn-based singer, on tour and on stage, trying to keep her career afloat…

The strongest monologues blend brash humour and insightful observation with a touching pathos and vulnerability. The characters become fully believable people you recognise and sympathise with. By peering into these four women’s inner lives, Bombshells helps us better understand our own.

Reviewed by Stephen Fall

Photography by Robert Piwko

Bombshells

Cockpit Theatre until 18th August as part of Camden Fringe 2019

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Cockpit Theatre

Reviewed – 11th August 2019

★★

“whilst the Cognatus Theatre troupe clearly have good intentions, ‘The Ideal Woman’ brings nothing new to the conversation”

But as much as I’m obviously a supporter of the ‘time’s up’/’me too’ campaigns, it won’t do to just state one’s belief in the women’s movement a bunch of times and call it content.

Unfortunately, whilst the Cognatus Theatre troupe clearly have good intentions, ‘The Ideal Woman’ brings nothing new to the conversation. It is only forty minutes, however, so there’s not much lost in dropping by and having a look for yourself.

Reviewed by Miriam Sallon

Photography by Vinna Law

The Ideal Woman

Cockpit Theatre until 14th August as part of Camden Fringe 2019

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: