OUTLYING ISLANDS

Jermyn Street Theatre

★★★★

“The subject matter never quite chills our bones, but the context is often unsettling”

The atmosphere hits you like a bracing offshore wind as you descend into the depths of the small basement on Jermyn Street. Anna Lewis’ set: a semi-submerged, semi-derelict stone chapel, creates the mood. Tragic and sepulchral, yet some sort of haven from the cruel elements that sweep the remote Hebridean shoreline outside. Its owner, Kirk, is just as rough-edged. Living alone with Ellen, his niece, they live in quiet captivity until two young, hapless ornithologists burst through the door – literally knocking it off its hinges. The impulsive, emotionally detached Robert, along with the more moral but anxious John have arrived to study the local bird life. It is the eve of World War II, so there is understandably a more sinister motive behind the survey that leaves them stranded on the isle for a month. Less understandable is the fact that the two young men seem somewhat unaware of the pretext. Whereas the isolated, cantankerous Kirk has all the gen. Fully aware that his outlying outcrop is scheduled to be the subject of a biological weapon experiment, he sees the dollar-signs stockpiling in his compensation package.

David Greig’s lyrical play draws you in to this small world. It is claustrophobic but the confines are torn, allowing us to see the wider issues. Little, though, is made of the encroaching anthrax experiment and instead we are watching the social and romantic entanglements as avidly as birdwatchers study our feathered friends’ behaviour. Humans are much more complicated. Greig knows this only too well and the poetry of his language teases out the characters’ serpentine layers with rich dialogue and haunting monologues. The standout performance is Whitney Kehinde’s Ellen. Timid and repressed she swiftly replaces her dour mantle with swathes of lust, as a new-found freedom from her uncle’s tyranny is tragically chanced upon. Kevin McMonagle is wonderfully charismatic as Kirk. Acerbic and unashamedly direct, he tries to keep Ellen like a caged bird but cannot control her mind. The stage lights up every time McMonagle fires his lines with a wry sense of humour and a Chekhovian dramatic irony.

Bruce Langley and Fred Woodley Evans, as Robert and John respectively, also manage to spin out the humour that runs alongside the poignancy. Deliberate echoes of Laurel and Hardy break the solemnity in a play that is difficult to categorise. The comedy is subtle, like the Mona Lisa smile. It disappears when you look directly at it. The ambiguity is sometimes overdone, though, and confusion starts to set in as the show coasts towards its climax in a tangle of charged eroticism. Despite the shifts in mood, Jessica Lazar’s assured direction evenly paces the action. Clever use of the intimate space sets clear indicators for the interior and exterior scenes, enhanced by David Doyle’s suggestive lighting which evokes the bleakness, and ignites warmth when needed. The subject matter never quite chills our bones, but the context is often unsettling.

Politically and philosophically the play throws up some interesting questions while rooting itself in a story about human relationships. Desire is a complex beast. The male characters are more at sea than Ellen. We wonder whether she is playing the two outsiders or whether her passions are genuine. We are certainly given time to contemplate – the play does stretch itself out. Not every character makes it to the end. But, thanks to the writing and the wonderful performances from the strong quartet of actors, the audience is kept in thrall right up to the closing moments.

OUTLYING ISLANDS

Jermyn Street Theatre

Reviewed on 11th February 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Alex Brenner

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE MAIDS | ★★★ | January 2025

NAPOLEON: UN PETIT PANTOMIME | ★★★★ | November 2024

EURYDICE | ★★ | October 2024

LAUGHING BOY | ★★★ | May 2024

THE LONELY LONDONERS | ★★★★ | March 2024

TWO ROUNDS | ★★★ | February 2024

THE BEAUTIFUL FUTURE IS COMING | ★★★★ | January 2024

OWNERS | ★★★½ | October 2023

INFAMOUS | ★★★★ | September 2023

SPIRAL | ★★ | August 2023

OUTLYING ISLANDS

★★

“its imaginative concept is held back by underwhelming acting and superfluous layers of choreography, staging and lighting”

In a maximum-security prison, deep underground, Moira and Bheur assess a serial killer. During a set period of five days of questions and conversations, Heath Dane gradually turns the tables and forces them to examine themselves, with revealing consequences. Writer, Luke Culloty, adds a twist to this Hannibalesque story but its imaginative concept is held back by underwhelming acting and superfluous layers of choreography, staging and lighting. Instead of focusing on setting an atmospheric scene of apprehension to start with (Heath isolated in his subterranean cell, for example) we enter the theatre to the sound of birdsong and an unnecessary characterisation tableau.

It is therefore up to the cast to initiate the suspense. Molly Jones’ portrayal of Heath has a disturbing side but we miss the contrasting dimensions of a psychopath and she behaves more like a sassy playground bully. As Moira, the passive, detached evaluator, Stella Richt lacks backbone and, often inaudible, immediately comes across as the vulnerable victim. Pikson, played by Fred Woodley Evans, seems in a continuous state of nerves, presumably due to Heath’s jeering at him but nevertheless surprising for a hardened security guard. Then things begin to get confusing when Bheur (Kirsty Terry) and Evangelina Burton as Officer Oml appear, attempting to take control of the proceedings. Even Culloty himself joins them as participating director/stage manager. What should be a build-up of tension culminating in an inevitable climax feels like a sudden precipitous outburst of passion.

The lighting produces some supporting special effects but could help intensify a feeling of claustrophobic unease and also take care not to leave people speaking in the dark (though perhaps this is intentional?). A few varied fragments of music set out to illustrate Heath’s ‘genius’ mind but the abstract movement sequences do more to detract from our engagement with the action than connect the scenes and the characters lose their identity.

Understandably, new-born theatre companies are giving young talent the opportunity to perform and grow. ‘Jailbirds’ has all the potential to be a powerful piece of theatre, full of suspense and inscrutability, but it would be interesting to use experienced actors and focus on the interpretation, pacing and dynamics of the script. Less can be more.

Reviewed by Joanna Hetherington

Photography courtesy Luke Culloty

OUTLYING ISLANDS

Jermyn Street Theatre

★★★★

“The subject matter never quite chills our bones, but the context is often unsettling”

OUTLYING ISLANDS

Jermyn Street Theatre

Reviewed on 11th February 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Alex Brenner

Previously reviewed at this venue:

OUTLYING ISLANDS

OUTLYING ISLANDS

OUTLYING ISLANDS

Etcetera Theatre

Reviewed – 5th December 2018

★★

“its imaginative concept is held back by underwhelming acting and superfluous layers of choreography, staging and lighting”

Reviewed by Joanna Hetherington

Photography courtesy Luke Culloty

Jailbirds

Etcetera Theatre until 8th December

Last ten show reviewed at this venue: