Ethan Doyle Archives - Page 19 of 19

Appropriate

Donmar Warehouse

Reviewed – 24th August 2019

★★★★

“Ola Ince’s direction has facilitated exceptional performances from all the cast”

It’s difficult to believe Appropriate was written over eight years ago; it seems so precisely pointed at the current ‘post-truth’ culture ushered in by climate change deniers, flat-Earthers, and boggling accusations of fake news that you’d think Branden Jacobs-Jenkins had penned it within the past few months. There’s even a remark about a Supreme Court judge which seems to perfectly tie in with the controversy involving Brett Kavanaugh less than a year ago. It must instead be a testament to the inescapable and unflinching truths that Jacobs-Jenkins’ writing brings centre-stage that the play has so much to reflect on in 2019.

Appropriate focuses around the Lafayettes, a staggeringly dysfunctional family forced to convene to deal with their recently-deceased father’s immensely unkempt plantation house. Comprised of the argumentative and devoted Toni (Monica Dolan), pragmatic yet money-driven Bo (Steven Mackintosh), and fraught recovering addict Franz (Edward Hogg), tensions rise to extreme levels over the ghosts of their pasts, as they are forced to reconcile with the notion that – being a plantation owner – their father may not have been as good a man as they’d initially thought. The insecurities and inherited generational ignorance are exacerbated further by Toni’s reclusive son Rhys (Charles Furness), Franz’s notably younger fiancée River (Tafline Steen), and Bo’s mothering wife Rachael (Jaimi Barbakoff) and teenage daughter Cassie (Isabella Pappas) who’s determined to be treated like an adult. Each character feels like they’ve been perfectly crafted to prod and provoke the others in ways that are a joy to watch.

Ola Ince’s direction has facilitated exceptional performances from all the cast, although Dolan is particularly noteworthy as the ferocious epicentre of most of the play’s conflict, constantly finding new texture and nuance to bring to her numerous embittered tirades, imbuing a sense of vulnerability that is slowly revealed. That’s not to say that Jacobs-Jenkins’ script doesn’t give every character a chance to shine; Furness and Pappas, for example, share a sensitive and poignant scene reflecting on the buzz of the cicadas surrounding the house – a cacophony brought to life by Donato Wharton’s claustrophobic sound design. Other design elements are equally exceptional, such as the Lafayettes’ late father’s hoarding realised brilliantly in the overwhelmingly creaky and creepy set from Fly Davis.

Despite that Appropriate is framed primarily as a family drama, there are also undercurrents of horror – characters feel presences, lightbulbs flicker, and objects move of their own volition when no-one’s in the room. It gave the impression that these two genres were going to collide spectacularly in the play’s climax, but it unfortunately fizzles out in an underwhelming montage. It’s a shame to end on such a forgettable note, because Appropriate is otherwise an urgent wake-up call to how the way we remember the past could be cataclysmic for the future.

Reviewed by Ethan Doyle

Photography by Marc Brenner

Appropriate

Donmar Warehouse until 5th October

Last ten shows covered by this reviewer:

Coral Browne: This F***Ing Lady! | ★★ | King’s Head Theatre | May 2019

Delicacy | ★★★½ | The Space | May 2019

Orpheus Descending | ★★★★ | Menier Chocolate Factory | May 2019

Regen | ★★★ | Pleasance Theatre | May 2019

Afterglow | ★★★½ | Southwark Playhouse | June 2019

The Light In The Piazza | ★★★ | Royal Festival Hall | June 2019

Equus | ★★★★★ | Trafalgar Studios | July 2019

No One Likes Us | ★★★ | Hen & Chickens Theatre | August 2019

Scenic Reality | ★ | Hen & Chickens Theatre | August 2019

The Parentheticals: Improdyssey | ★★★★ | Etcetera Theatre | August 2019

Click here to see our most recent reviews

The Parentheticals: Improdyssey

Etcetera Theatre

Reviewed – 11th August 2019

★★★★

“The performers consistently find unexpected and imaginative comic goldmines in each scene”

If you’re a stickler for historical accuracy, take note: Improdyssey is not for you. This is a story set in the 13th century that features tattoo parlours, pizza, and a climax involving significantly more cats than one would ever expect. For everyone else: make sure you check out this new show from The Parentheticals – it’s an absolute riot.

As a disclaimer, your experience of the show may not entail any of the above, as this is a medieval quest entirely improvised based on audience suggestions. My version of Improdyssey was entitled ‘The Ring of Doom’, which centred on a priest (Sean Toole) and a butcher (Guillaume Desqueyroux) trying to acquire the titular ring from a wizard (Brendan Way) before a murderous tattoo artist (Joe Colgan) exploits its powers to commit further crimes. The four performers take on a host of other roles, including grandsons, Jesuits, ghosts, and God Himself, fleshing out a world of madcap, occasionally Python-esque characters.

However, the show’s chief focus of course is not its story, but instead ensuring that you’re laughing as frequently as possible, and on that count it’s largely a runaway success. The performers consistently find unexpected and imaginative comic goldmines in each scene, and even in instances where it’s clear that there’s a struggle to drive the plot, it’s handled in a way that invites greater comedic potential. Every moment is weaponised to be as hilarious as possible.

The audience also play an important part – as well as providing the initial building blocks of the story, they often fuel the scenes. In an exercise that will be familiar to anyone who’s ever seen an episode of Whose Line is it Anyway?, the audience are asked to write movie quotes on bits of paper before the show, that the performers will later use as phrases, thoughts, and advice for their characters to spontaneously share. Other, more interactive examples see members invited to the stage to move the actors around or finish their sentences. Allowing the audience to be integral parts of the action in this way further establishes an atmosphere of creativity, playfulness, and total chaos.

Thanks to the talents of the performers, however, it always feels as though they are in total control of that chaos. Colgan in particular was exceptionally quick-witted, deftly delivering constant laughs while also guiding scenes to keep the plot moving at a tight pace. It was noticeable that at times it felt two performers were both trying to force their version of the scene onto the other, which led to some of the aforementioned instances where the story stalled, but then that’s also part of the inherent excitement of improvisation – knowing it could all go awry at any moment.

Luckily, Improdyssey barely goes awry. You’ll struggle to find a more unabashedly gleeful hour of comic delight than with the medieval questing on offer here.

Donmar Warehouse

Reviewed – 24th August 2019

★★★★

“Ola Ince’s direction has facilitated exceptional performances from all the cast”

Reviewed by Ethan Doyle

Photography by Marc Brenner

Appropriate

Donmar Warehouse until 5th October

Last ten shows covered by this reviewer:

Etcetera Theatre

Reviewed – 11th August 2019

★★★★

“The performers consistently find unexpected and imaginative comic goldmines in each scene”

Luckily, Improdyssey barely goes awry. You’ll struggle to find a more unabashedly gleeful hour of comic delight than with the medieval questing on offer here.

Reviewed by Ethan Doyle

The Parentheticals: Improdyssey

Etcetera Theatre until 12th August as part of Camden Fringe 2019

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: