George Lyons Archives - thespyinthestalls.com

Public Domain

Online from Southwark Playhouse

Reviewed – 16th January 2021

★★★★

“it’s a refreshing change, really, to find a musical that doesn’t shy away from unpleasant truths of contemporary life”

Public Domain is the Southwark Playhouse’s latest production, live streamed from the theatre so that we can view it safely in our own homes. It’s a peppy, up to the minute, musical take on the joys and pitfalls of social media. And appropriately, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the whole piece is performed by just two actors, Francesca Forristal and Jordan Paul Clarke. Clarke and Forristal also wrote this piece, taking as their inspiration, words and composite characters posting on social media over the last year.

The show opens with a couple of everyday millennials enthusing about the joys of Facebook. They’re looking for connections—with just about anyone. “Just like that we felt a little less alone” they sing, and ironic tone apart, much of the theme of Public Domain seems to be focused on this generation’s fears of not getting enough attention. The show ranges from deftly amplified scenes portraying vloggers on Youtube talking about the anxiety of posting enough, to uneasy musings about whether they would really be better off on Instagram. Francesca Forristal’s manic vlogger is particularly well done, and nicely contrasts with Jordan Paul Clarke’s perennially depressed one, wondering aloud whether all this soul baring to the camera is just free therapy.

All this manic depressive zeal can’t last, of course, and Public Domain soon starts examining the more problematic side of social media. Who manages, and thus controls, all this deeply personal data? Forristal and Clarke switch to American accents, and in an instant, Mark Zuckerberg, earnest CEO of Facebook, and his equally earnest physician wife, Priscilla Chan, are on stage singing “how lucky we are”. Their fervent declaration that “Tomorrow is gonna be better than today” seems unlikely, however, given that their portrayal of happy family life is in-terspersed with scenes of Congress grilling Zuckerberg on rights to privacy. How safe (and how true) is all that data that people upload onto Facebook? From themes of Fake News and data misuse, Public Domain takes an easy leap from Youtube, Facebook and Instagram into the unglued an-tics of TikTok. As Clarke gives us a musical tour of this new social media app, Matt Powell’s video wizardry superimposes TikTok examples on Clarke’s performance. This is a departure from projecting onto a simple backdrop on stage, as one would during a conventional production, and it works quite well. It is, indeed, just one example in Public Domain where the creative team become mothers of invention through the necessity of having to live stream theatre.

Public Domain is a bold attempt at a new kind of theatre forged in irony for our uncertain times. Its sparse lines are seen throughout with a cut down cast, economical direction (Adam Lenson) and in set and costume design (Libby Todd). The songs and lyrics allow more extravagance of expression, but most of the work in this show is carried on the capable shoulders of Clarke and Forristal. And it’s a refreshing change, really, to find a musical that doesn’t shy away from unpleasant truths of contemporary life, even while it celebrates the madness of our angst ridden era.

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by The Other Richard

Public Domain

Available to stream from www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk from Tuesday 19 to Sunday 24 January

Previously reviewed by Dominica:

The Tempest | ★★★★ | Jermyn Street Theatre | March 2020

Bird | ★★ | Cockpit Theatre | September 2020

Bread And Circuses | ★★½ | Online | September 2020

Minutes To Midnight | ★★★★ | Online | September 2020

Persephone’s Dream | ★★★ | Online | September 2020

The Trilobite | ★★★★ | Online | September 2020

Paradise Lost | ★★★★ | Cockpit Theatre | September 2020

The Legend of Moby Dick Whittington | ★★★★★ | Online | November 2020

Potted Panto | ★★★ | Garrick Theatre | December 2020

Magnetic North | ★★★★ | Online | December 2020

Click here to see our most recent reviews

★★★★

“a brilliant and nuanced musical“

It’s 1963 and Eddie Birdlace has one more night before him and his fellow marine buddies (Bernstein and Boland – the three bees) ship out to the Vietnam war. Full of the certainty of their invincibility and the promise of a hero’s return, the marines spend their night partaking in a long honoured tradition: the dogfight. A simple premise. Each marine puts in fifty bucks. They throw a party. The marine who can bring the ugliest date wins the leftover money. When Eddie meets Rose he is sure he has found the perfect girl for the dogfight, but he doesn’t bargain for what comes next.

At its heart this is a love story but it is also investigates toxic masculinity. The marines have only had thirteen weeks training, and can’t be more than nineteen years old. They are vessels of a violent and ugly misogyny, but at the same time they are no more than boys, naive and vulnerable, in no way ready to face war. In heartbreaking juxtaposition, Rose is a breath of fresh air to the stage, intelligent, interesting and ultimately kind.

The performers are all members of the British Theatre Academy, which offers accessible training and performance opportunities to young people under the age of twenty three. And what a cast they are. Across the board they are full of energy and conviction, and there isn’t a weak link onstage. Our leading pair played by Stephen Lewis-Johnson and Claire Keenan in this performance – two casts alternate – are brilliant. Keenan is particularly compelling, funny and genuine, immediately likeable. She is utterly engaging to watch. Her and Lewis-Johnson are in turn lovely together, and both vocally really strong. Lewis-Johnson’s lonely return from Vietnam is an undeniably powerful end to the show which he delivers with the full emotional punch it deserves.

The band are faultless. It’s a fantastic score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (both music and lyrics) that they handle with accomplishment and ease.

The set by Dean Johnson and Andrew Exeter is simple but effective. The band, lit by warm lamps are at the back of the stage and the different settings are created by wooden crates. A particularly lovely moment sees light bulbs suspended by cast members to create street lamps around Eddie and Rose on their first date.

This a brilliant and nuanced musical that is delivered by an incredibly talented cast and band.

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Eliza Wilmot

Online from Southwark Playhouse

Reviewed – 16th January 2021

★★★★

“it’s a refreshing change, really, to find a musical that doesn’t shy away from unpleasant truths of contemporary life”

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by The Other Richard

Public Domain

Available to stream from www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk from Tuesday 19 to Sunday 24 January

Previously reviewed by Dominica:

Southwark Playhouse

Reviewed – 21st August 2019

★★★★

“a brilliant and nuanced musical“

The band are faultless. It’s a fantastic score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (both music and lyrics) that they handle with accomplishment and ease.

This a brilliant and nuanced musical that is delivered by an incredibly talented cast and band.

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Eliza Wilmot

Dogfight

Southwark Playhouse until 31st August

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: