★★★

“a bit weird, a bit erotic, rather silly, generally accessible, and quite short”

Two boys in skimpy underpants hop across the stage, arrange cucumbers on the floor, and you think, “Oh, it’s going to be one of those shows.” Vol 2.0 is a bit weird, a bit erotic, rather silly, generally accessible, and quite short.

At just under an hour, 45 Feet Tall’s Vol 2.0 doesn’t contain a lot of action. Much of it consists of the performers skipping in place, as if with an imaginary jump-rope. There is a fair amount of hoovering of the astroturf floor, and eating of cucumbers, and smashing of cucumbers against the astroturf floor, and a bit of play-wrestling, and some dialogue.

The theme, as far as I could tell, is distance and closeness; closeness, when welcomed, forming intimacy, and when unwelcome, causing intrusion. Whilst performing individual tasks, such as vacuuming the floor, the performers intrude each other’s space, get in the way of each other with entertaining physical exaggeration; but also, when they are aligned in their actions, they show a bond of personal closeness.

There are attempts also to pull the audience into this bizarre and personal world. The performers share intimate details about themselves in brief addresses to the audience, trying to drag us into their space, then punishing us for getting so close. Towards the end of the piece, one of the men writhes and shakes on the floor; we want to look away, but we know that we mustn’t. The approach is methodical – bring the audience closer to make them more vulnerable. It’s like Miss Havisham plotting to destroy the hearts of men, but decidedly more twinkish.

That is the white cotton elephant in the room – the decision to dress the performers only in shirts and underpants was probably meant to emphasise their vulnerability, but it inadvertently gives the show a dimension of confused sexual politics, beyond which it is distracting and a bit silly. (Especially with all that jumping, if you get what I mean).

Reviewed by Louis Train

Photography by Ali Wright

The Break-up Autopsy

Etcetera Theatre

Reviewed – 30th October 2018

★★★★

“delivered on its promise of an hour of black comedy”

The Break-up Autopsy opens slap bang in the middle of a very messy situation. Dee (Larissa Pinkham), is sat by a window throwing book after book out onto the street. One of her legs is dangling over the frame, marinara has spilt across the front of her dress and she is howling as if her life depended on it. Steven Jeram’s character Alex stands by helplessly, shirt adorned with the same red stains, while Yasmin (Anna Christian) and Jake (Hraban Luyat), look in from the outside.

The play dissects the relationship of Dee and Alex. From meet-cute to present day, Alex’s step-sister Yasmin and Dee’s best-friend Jake force the couple to confront their dysfunctional history and show them the many times they could have broken up in a less dramatic fashion. However, how the characters related to each other is a point which was not clear to me until we were already half-way through. I thought the scene was set beautifully and I very quickly picked up on the personalities of all involved, I particularly enjoyed Anna Christian’s portrayal of motherly exasperation and the way Steven Jeram wove Alex’s dangerously manipulative nice guy net, but I ached for a bit of background information. For a long time, I had the four down as being old friends from school or university.

A little more about the characters would have also made for an easier ending. Which, without wanting to give anything away, felt like a struggle to tie everyone into the relationship. A valiant effort, but too late to give it a lasting impact.

The Break-Up Autopsy delivered on its promise of an hour of black comedy. I commend it more, however, for the sharp changes from one scene unfolding to a documentary style play-by-play of the couples’ best moves; a feat which could not have been pulled off without the cast’s impeccable timing and quick shifts of energy in their performance.

Etcetera Theatre

Reviewed – 18th November 2018

★★★

“a bit weird, a bit erotic, rather silly, generally accessible, and quite short”

Two boys in skimpy underpants hop across the stage, arrange cucumbers on the floor, and you think, “Oh, it’s going to be one of those shows.” Vol 2.0 is a bit weird, a bit erotic, rather silly, generally accessible, and quite short.

Reviewed by Louis Train

Photography by Ali Wright

Vol 2.0

Etcetera Theatre

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Etcetera Theatre

Reviewed – 30th October 2018

★★★★

“delivered on its promise of an hour of black comedy”

A little more about the characters would have also made for an easier ending. Which, without wanting to give anything away, felt like a struggle to tie everyone into the relationship. A valiant effort, but too late to give it a lasting impact.

The production was a definite mood changer, worthy of every laugh and the applause it received.

Reviewed by Alexandra Wilbraham

The Break-up Autopsy

Etcetera Theatre until 4th November

Previously reviewed at this venue:

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