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Don’t Look Away

Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed – 8th May 2019

★★★½

“From exposing the realities faced by asylum seekers to prompting us into self-interrogation, Chapman has created a show firmly rooted in compassion”

The refugee crisis has been a constant in the public consciousness for many years; predictably, it has now become a mainstay in the arts. High profile plays like The Jungle have given us access to personal stories that are all too often lost in the midst of statistics and fleeting front pages.

Grace Chapman’s Don’t Look Away is the latest addition to the genre. The personal story in question is that of Adnan, an eighteen year old boy seeking asylum in the UK. His journey from Aleppo to Bradford was 4500 miles long: much to his dismay, it isn’t even close to being over.

But Adnan is not our protagonist. That would be Cath: the cleaning lady who takes him in on his first night in the country and becomes gradually all the more involved in his story. The Home Office aside, the play’s antagonist is Jamie, Cath’s entitled son, who feels confused and threatened by his mother’s investment in Adnan’s life.

Chapman was inspired to write the play after members of her family began housing asylum seekers. Whilst she may simply have sought to write about her own experiences, she simultaneously found an interesting way to re-tell and re-interrogate an oft-told story. She exposes the stark reality of seeking asylum, the ways in which the system is stacked against Adnan in unimaginable ways. It also explores the ways in which we as individuals respond to global crises. Jamie believes that Cath is in over her head, but Cath strives to do more. It is interesting to consider her motivations for doing so: despite the fact that her actions are genuine, she seems to be using this situation to compensate for the lost connection between herself and Jamie. The interplay between Cath the failed mother and Cath the determined friend makes her a well-rounded character, saving her from becoming the dreaded White Saviour. All three characters leap off the page with force. Julia Barrie attentively explores Cath’s fragility in addition to her resilience, whilst Brian Fletcher is nicely detestable as Jamie. Robert Hannouch is bold and charismatic as Adnan, full of hope and energy that makes him a pleasure to watch.

For me the flaws in this production come from its staging. The movement sequences (save the one at the beginning) add little and feel clunky, fracturing the play’s tight structure for no good reason. The translucent curtain at the back of the set takes away from the overall sparseness; I wish it was used in more creative and expressive ways. The ending does feel somewhat unbelievable, which is a shame as it undercuts the subtlety of the preceding scenes. These are quite minor problems, yet they do inhibit the production in significant and unavoidable ways.

Don’t Look Away isn’t the perfect play, yet it is undoubtedly important. From exposing the realities faced by asylum seekers to prompting us into self-interrogation, Chapman has created a show firmly rooted in compassion.

Reviewed by Harriet Corke

Photography by Ryan Cowan

Don’t Look Away

Pleasance Theatre until 18th May

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Aid Memoir | ★★★ | October 2018

One Duck Down | ★★★★★ | October 2018

The Archive of Educated Hearts | ★★★★ | October 2018

Call Me Vicky | ★★★ | February 2019

Neck Or Nothing | ★★★★ | April 2019

Night Of The Living Dead Live | ★★★ | April 2019

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★★★½

“the performances are committed and energised”

‘Little Women’ is a much loved classic, and Rachael Claye’s adaptation is deeply true to the spirit of its inspiration. Warm and human and familiar, this is a play about family, about growing up, about leaving and about coming back together. Four young women live with their mother, each yearning for different things. Amy is an artist, Jo a writer, Beth a carpenter and Meg wants to make a difference in people’s lives. We meet them as they begin to encounter the world, caught between child and adult.

The cast is consistently strong. Miranda Horn as Beth is particularly lovely, natural and bright onstage. Sean Stevenson’s Laurie is playful and likeable, Amy Gough as Jo is earnest and fervent. In fact across the cast, the performances are committed and energised, and the familial relationships feel nothing but genuine. Jonathan Hawkins as the quirky Professor is a vibrant late addition to the play.

The script captures well what is so brilliant about the book, the relationships and characters are well sketched. However whilst very strong in many ways, it suffers from indecision. The narrative is supposedly set in modern day Crouch End but the dialogue fluctuates back and forth, sometimes genuinely contemporary, in other moments far more mannered and of its time. The ages of some of the characters also seems confused. Stephanie Dickson as Amy, for example, has been directed to play quite young complete with pigtails and a bow in her hair but is simultaneously applying to art school, an incongruence which is not believable.

The show is also a little too long. There are a couple of scenes that are unnecessary, if lovely, and the end, equally is not needed. The image of Beth and Jo together for the last time, of ‘Little Women’ forming in Jo’s mind, is one of both sadness and hope, and I don’t think we learn anything further from the action that follows that.

A Christmas classic, Claye’s 2018 adaptation of ‘Little Women’ is a charming joy to watch that just needs some tweaking to really situate itself.

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Matthew Thomas

Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed – 8th May 2019

★★★½

“From exposing the realities faced by asylum seekers to prompting us into self-interrogation, Chapman has created a show firmly rooted in compassion”

The refugee crisis has been a constant in the public consciousness for many years; predictably, it has now become a mainstay in the arts. High profile plays like The Jungle have given us access to personal stories that are all too often lost in the midst of statistics and fleeting front pages.

Grace Chapman’s Don’t Look Away is the latest addition to the genre. The personal story in question is that of Adnan, an eighteen year old boy seeking asylum in the UK. His journey from Aleppo to Bradford was 4500 miles long: much to his dismay, it isn’t even close to being over.

Don’t Look Away isn’t the perfect play, yet it is undoubtedly important. From exposing the realities faced by asylum seekers to prompting us into self-interrogation, Chapman has created a show firmly rooted in compassion.

Reviewed by Harriet Corke

Photography by Ryan Cowan

Don’t Look Away

Pleasance Theatre until 18th May

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

The Space

Reviewed – 6th December 2018

★★★½

“the performances are committed and energised”

A Christmas classic, Claye’s 2018 adaptation of ‘Little Women’ is a charming joy to watch that just needs some tweaking to really situate itself.

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Matthew Thomas

Little Women

The Space until 15th December

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: