Amongst the brightly coloured crochet throws, generic wall hangings and psychedelic background music, a tension is brewing. At first, nothing appears out of the ordinary – anyone could live here. Affectionately referred to as Julie, the main occupant however is Julian (performed by Julian Bailey-Jones) who rapidly begins to show us the many different sides to his personality, rage very closely mixed in with a concoction of love and neediness.
Julian is in his apartment with a young man (George Turner) he has spent the night with, when there is a knock on the door. He opens the door and simultaneously his past, resulting in a display of despair, hurt and confusion. It is Alan (Anthony Cord) an older man who left him in order to preserve his life with his wife and children. Cord portrays a man who is both deeply ashamed of his homosexual tendencies but also of the betrayal he has caused towards Julie. Shocked and also a little hopeful, Alan is allowed into the apartment and there the hysteria begins.
Hopkins’ work seriously hits home and speaks to anyone in a relationship – when you have experienced pain, could you and should you trust again? Julia Faulkner plays Jackie, Alan’s wife and delivers a performance that is heartbreakingly fantastic. She goes through such a range of emotions, from pleading with her husband to return home to implying that if he doesn’t, he may not have access to his children. ‘You haven’t loved me for fifteen years!’ she cries when she feels the last of her husband slip away from her. Over the course of the second half of the show, you feel as though you’re able to see into the whole of their twenty year marriage.
The Etcetera theatre in Camden worked well for this performance as you really are right there in the middle of the drama, you’re forced to analyse each move and expression. Being set in Julie’s colourful yet depressing apartment throughout the whole show is uncomfortable and stifling, a perfect portrayal of a lack of escape from a dire situation.
“generates a number of laughs whilst posing quite a few discussion points about the world we live in”
Often millennials are seen as living the life of revelry with few cares and responsibilities. However, aspiring actress Lucy Winwood is struggling with very real financial difficulties which leave her unable to pay her burgeoning bills. With the bank nagging and a lack of castings she decides to search the web for a get quick rich scheme and stumbles upon a foot fetish website. The temptation to make big money from murkier waters seems all too convenient. However when a client wants to meet her in the flesh Lucy questions whether ‘degrading’ herself in front of someone is a moral or ethical approach to embark on.
Written, produced and directed by duo Emma Brown and Lawrence Smith, Feet is a piece which generates a number of laughs whilst posing quite a few discussion points about the world we live in. Brown plays the distinctly likeable Lucy who like many others is concerned about the uncertainty of her future and graduate life. When snapping her feet, Lucy isn’t sexually wheedling but instead lets the photos do all the talking. To her it’s a way of earning money, certainly more than she gets working at the supermarket. Her partner Smith switches smoothly between characters as he shifts from controlling boyfriend Ben to various clients from all walks of life. The duo nail the tone perfectly. It’s an uplifting insight into someone progressing in a little-understood profession.
The cast engineer the moves between locations with spot-on lighting cues and music. This allows the audience to dip into different aspects of Lucy’s life with ease whilst keeping the focus on her. Recorded voice-overs are cleverly woven into the piece as a way of representing characters such as Lucy’s father, friend, phone messages and her inner thoughts. At times it almost feels like a sitcom. However, it’s when the play comes to a close that the plot strands collide and things stumble a little. The last five minutes lack tautness and the result is an abrupt ending with loose ends. As a whole I’m impressed with the places this piece ventures. From financial struggles, to graduate life, to the world of sex work, to the acceptance of nudity onstage, to revenge porn.
