Tag Archives: Edward Lewis

BANGING DENMARK

★★★

Finborough Theatre

BANGING DENMARK at the Finborough Theatre

★★★

“the story is well paced and refreshing in its levity”

Banging Denmark is rom-com about a pick up artist who asks a feminist sociologist for help in seducing a Danish woman and hijinks ensue. Written by Van Badham, the piece is a light hearted look at the feminist debates going on in the modern dating scene. The play’s dialogue leans towards timeless rather than topical, but includes some brilliant lines and delivery from the cast.

The stage is set with Jake (Tom Kay) leading a radio show and receiving calls from disgruntled men (James Jip) who spew bile and resentment about women. Jake blasts crude sound effects and bad advice surrounded by pizza boxes and the stench of loneliness. He is enamoured with Anne (Maja Simonsen), an ethereal Danish woman who works at the library. Jake is desperate to connect with her after a failed introduction. We meet Ishtar Madigan (Rebecca Blackstone), a hard-done by sociology PhD student living in her office, supported by Denyse (Jodie Tyack), a computer scientist and ‘nice guy’ Toby (James Jip). Despite their differences, Jake and Ishtar mirror each other in their respective squalor, with Anne’s clean library booth sitting centre stage, connecting and dividing their lives (Set designed by Katy Mo and Leah Kelly). The group become entangled in each other’s lives as we watch them pick at their values and opinions instigated by Anne, or more accurately; their assumptions of Anne.

Aside from being relatively predictable, the story is well paced and refreshing in its levity. Anne breaks the fourth wall in a joyous fashion and the show doesn’t take itself too seriously. Jake and Ishtar both hold strong beliefs about what people want from sex whilst hypocrisy and nuance carry on around them. Anne is a surprising character, Simonsen shows layers of personality whilst representing the gold standard of an empowered woman, having been raised in ‘the best country in the world to be a woman’. Directed by Sally Woodcock, the show makes clever use of the intimate space in the Finborough and brings out the rom-com themes of the piece. Kay and Blackstone centre the events with engaging arguments, volleying insults and observations with great chemistry between the two enemies. Jip portrays Toby as a wise voice of reason pining after endearing and plucky Denyse. Jokes are squeezed for their laughs and sometimes fall flat, however there are many triumphs and fun to be had from this production.

Its premise is entertaining and contemporary, but its execution is inherently a bit old-school with “the more things change, the more they stay the same” attitude coming from its story and resolution. It exists in a heightened realm of possibility in which a misogynist broadcaster would actually reach out to a sociologist for help, and that online abuse generated by someone like Jake would really render an academic homeless. There are attempts at delving into ‘gaming’ and the ‘internet’ but these topics feel underbaked, especially in 2023 (Twitter is called ‘X’ now!). The character study of Jake felt inherently more kind then these men appear in real life, and Ishtar seemed very persecuted for a sociology post-grad in UCL. These factors make for a good comedy, but perhaps not the most grounded story. The ending is a delightfully happy one brimming with optimism…probably because the play was written before the advent of Andrew Tate and a new wave of much more vile rhetoric. If only we could go back to the days of laughing at cringy sound bites and complaining about video games. Banging Denmark is a quippy dissection of feminism in modern dating dressed up in a well-crafted rom-com that occasionally struggles to be current.


BANGING DENMARK at the Finborough Theatre

Reviewed on 19th April 2024

by Jessica Potts

Photography by Ali Wright

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

FOAM | ★★★★ | April 2024
JAB | ★★★★ | February 2024
THE WIND AND THE RAIN | ★★★ | July 2023
SALT-WATER MOON | ★★★★ | January 2023
PENNYROYAL | ★★★★ | July 2022
THE STRAW CHAIR | ★★★ | April 2022
THE SUGAR HOUSE | ★★★★ | November 2021

BANGING DENMARK

BANGING DENMARK

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The Wind and the Rain

★★★

Finborough Theatre

THE WIND AND THE RAIN at the Finborough Theatre

★★★

“while Hodge’s plot is a little thin, his dialogue is plenty fun, giving rise to some excellent performances.”

 

I love a quiet story, where nothing much appears to happen, while tension and longing roil beneath the surface. The Wind and the Rain is so almost that, but unfortunately tensions are a little too tepid and nothing ever really comes to bear.

A group of 1930s medical students move into their lodgings for the new academic year. Tritton (Joe Pitts), a newcomer and awfully serious about his studies, finds himself falling for young Kiwi sculptor, Anne (Naomi Preston-Low), despite being as good as betrothed back in London.

And that’s pretty much the whole story. There’s no slow development between the love birds, barring their first meeting, so the meat of the plot happens right at the beginning. We do eventually meet Tritton’s betrothed, Jill, but despite this being a highlight, she’s such an obviously poor match, and Tritton disapproves of her behaviour so entirely, that it’s completely implausible they’ll end up together.

Director Geoffrey Beevers seems desperate to find some juicy subtext, and some of the lines are delivered so bizarrely in the opening act, I wonder if this isn’t going to become a thriller. The looks between the two long-term tenants when their new lodger arrives suggests something very foreboding indeed, and John Williams (Harvey Cole) who is generally the relief, mutters with fear, “I’m sweating”. On discussing her sympathy for newcomers learning the ropes, Mrs McFie, the po-faced landlady, ominously remarks, “There’s an awful lot you’d be better off not knowing.”

The theatre’s website mentions that this story is likely inspired by writer Merton Hodge’s own experiences “as a bisexual man in the 1930s”, which might explain Beever’s attempted angle, but there doesn’t appear to be any hint of Hodge’s bisexuality in the text itself, so instead we have these strange moments of forced tension that don’t make any sense with the actual dialogue.

That being said, while Hodge’s plot is a little thin, his dialogue is plenty fun, giving rise to some excellent performances.

Jenny Lee’s Mrs McFie is wonderfully odd, desperate to be in company, but deaf to social cues, and I feel rather sorry for her when her tenants so often interrupt her ramblings and send her off to fetch coal or dinner.

As I mentioned, the appearance of Jill, played by Helen Reuben, is a treat, bringing a taste of London glitz to the drab student lodgings. She’s presumably supposed to seem frivolous beside Tritton’s new love, earnest Anne, but Reuben makes her the fizz in the champagne, and everyone else appears dull and repressed in her presence.

Her escort, Roger, played by Lynton Appleton, is another highlight, playing a perfectly pretentious idiot and offering some much-needed silliness. Appleton later appears as a very green, awkward new student in the final scene, and while the plot’s pace has, by this point, nearly entirely dropped off, Appleton is quietly acting his socks off in the corner, despite having very few lines.

Carla Evans has designed a straight-forward, but wonderfully detailed set, complete with a buck’s head above a tiled fireplace, a kitchen crockery display cabinet and a beautiful old record player. The passing of time is denoted by the ritualistic changing of tablecloths, which seems a bit unnecessary and adds long minutes to an already long play.

There is definitely something to this story, but Beever hasn’t quite hit the nail on the head in the execution. Or perhaps, given it was written in the ‘30s, The Wind and the Rain might be more suited to a loose adaptation than a true-to-script production.

 

 

Reviewed on 13th July 2023

by Miriam Sallon

Photography by Mark Senior

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

 

Salt-Water Moon | ★★★★ | January 2023
Pennyroyal | ★★★★ | July 2022
The Straw Chair | ★★★ | April 2022
The Sugar House | ★★★★ | November 2021

 

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