George Turvey Archives - thespyinthestalls.com

★★★★

“Director George Turvey keeps the play dynamic and ever surprising”

Hannah Doran’s feisty new play The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights beat 1,588 competitors to win Papatango’s 2024 New Writing Prize and you can see why. A love story, workplace rivalries, second chances, deceit and high stakes (if you’ll indulge the pun) are all coursing through the cutting room of a family-run butcher shop.

Two apprentice butchers find themselves in competition for a promotion, and as their cut test is fast approaching, they enlist the help of their colleagues to win at any price. With raw meat and sharp knives on stainless-steel counters, and the thrum of salsa music in the background, the butchery is a pressure cooker as America’s structural violence swirls outside. Impossible health care costs, corporate takeovers driving out small business owners, and anti-immigration policies all become intensely personal as each of Doran’s finely drawn characters tries to survive.

From the moment the actors enter dancing and teasing one another to sound designer Asaf Zohar’s compelling soundtrack, the acting is uniformly strong. As Billy, Ash Hunter is jaded and vulnerable in equal measure. Mithra Malek, as the vegetarian T, is grounded and never pushes – so her rush of rage toward the end feels earned and raw. Jackie Clune’s Paula is incredibly believable, her no-nonsense warmth and urgency giving pace and push to the rest. And Marcello Cruz plays the fresh-faced naïve “Dreamer” with just enough playfulness and sincerity that you can’t help but fall in love. Dialect coach Caitlin Stegemoller ensures their Brooklyn accents are all pitch perfect.

Director George Turvey keeps the play dynamic and ever surprising, leaving us with a powerful and unsettling image that begs the question – who and what is really being butchered here? Mona Camille’s set design and Bethany Gupwell’s lighting not only evoke a butcher shop’s back room, contained with its curtains of translucent strips of plastic, but the well-calibrated wing lighting constantly reminds us of the pulsing world off-stage as well – the front of the shop, the refrigerated backroom where the meat is kept, the rough streets beyond.

And this is the ultimate strength of Doran’s play – how it brings the damaged outside world into the personal lives of the characters, exploring the extent to which our individual choices make a difference in the face of broader inequities and bigotry. T’s somewhat sanctimonious speech in the last third of the play admonishing her cousin Billy’s tendency to blame the system for his mistakes is the only false note as it oversimplifies and undercuts what is otherwise a very sophisticated and complex exploration of America’s predicament. As ICE becomes a household name, as New York elects its new mayor, this is a play that is even more relevant and haunting today than it was when it was written last year.

Shook

Online via papatango.co.uk

Reviewed – 4th February 2021

★★★★★

“the model example of what a filmed theatre production should be like”

Papatango once again proved themselves fully deserving of their mighty reputation when Shook hit stages after winning the 2019 prize, with the production amassing widespread critical and audience acclaim. In place of the show’s West End transfer which had to be cancelled, it was instead filmed and will be available to watch throughout February 2021. Does the production translate well to film, though? In a word – absolutely.

Shook follows three young offenders – Jonjo (Josef Davies), Cain (Josh Finan), and Riyad (Ivan Oyik) – who are taking parenting classes from Grace (Andrea Hall) in the hope of being good fathers when they get out of incarceration. The ramifications of their murky pasts collide with their aspirations for their futures, forming a poignantly scathing critique of a system that seems more focused on punishment than potential.

It’s Samuel Bailey’s debut full-length play, but you wouldn’t be able to tell – the pacy dialogue consistently feels organic, finding light in dark places while not shying away from frankness where needed. Bailey’s script never punches down, instead ensuring that we root for and empathise with people who are otherwise so often demonised. By giving us a window into these characters’ hopes, jokes, quirks, and fears, Bailey’s script provides vital and stellar humanisation.

The actors elevate this even further. All three men deliver beautifully detailed and textured performances, adding colour and heart to more moments than could be counted. The contrast between Davies explaining the crime he committed with knife-edge tension, and the warmth he displays when playing board games with Riyad is powerful. The moments of weakness and vulnerability that Oyik and Finan pepper into their characters’ bravados are hugely impactful, and are counterpointed excellently by their comedic flairs – particularly whenever they have to demonstrate anything parenting-related in their classes, such as performing CPR or changing a nappy. The dynamic between the three totally moreish, and only gets more nuanced in scenes with Hall’s compassionate but firm Grace.

The direction serves to capture all these moments perfectly – directors George Turvey and James Bobin don’t go overboard with the filming, forgoing any fancy cinematography save for some CCTV view shots between scenes. There’s also an opening sequence of shots highlighting the extraordinary detail of Jasmine Swan’s set design, which effectively helps to establish the place and tone. Shook is maturely and respectfully filmed throughout, ensuring that the cameras are always putting the characters and their story at its centre.

Shook is the model example of what a filmed theatre production should be like – it flawlessly translates the stage experience without losing any of the magic, and there is a lot of magic on offer with this show. Shook is incisive but never preachy, opting instead to lay bare the hearts of a group of people we’re conditioned to think are heartless.

THE MEAT KINGS! (INC.) OF BROOKLYN HEIGHTS

Park Theatre

★★★★

“Director George Turvey keeps the play dynamic and ever surprising”

THE MEAT KINGS! (INC.) OF BROOKLYN HEIGHTS

Park Theatre

Reviewed on 4th November 2025

by Samantha Karr

Photography by Mark Douet

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE MEAT KINGS

THE MEAT KINGS

THE MEAT KINGS

Online via papatango.co.uk

Reviewed – 4th February 2021

★★★★★

“the model example of what a filmed theatre production should be like”

Reviewed by Ethan Doyle

Photography by The Other Richard

Shook

Online via papatango.co.uk until 28th February

Previously reviewed by Ethan:

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