★★★★

“a gem of a play, soft and lyrical and full of promise”

I will still be whole (when you rip my in half) opens beautifully. The two performers begin to tell the story, together, sharing sentences, before they become its two protagonists: a mother who left her newborn child after a hellish pregnancy, and her now grown daughter, in search of her mother and in search of herself.

The script is delicately written by Ava Wong Davies, skipping between the ornateness of poetic language and the brutality of everyday experience. It dives between their stories, only to bring them together in the final scene for the reunion of mother and daughter, a reunion that one has looked for and one hasn’t.

The two performers balance each other so well under Helen Morley’s direction. Tuyen Do as Joy has a lovely softness to her, which compliments the harshness of the decision she has to make to hold herself together. Contrastingly, we get to meet EJ (Aoife Hinds) on a night out, alone apart from the girl she is kissing, then alone again apart from a fox in the road, then alone again apart from the firefighters and residents gathered around a house going up in flames. A surreal, neurotic journey that echoes her emotional state.

There are points where the pace suffers, the energy dulls, points that don’t demand our engagement and attention. But its tenderness is also part of its charm when the balance is right.

The set, designed by Grace Venning, unites the two characters visually – even before they meet – through a tree branch both of them see from the window of the bedroom they have consecutively lived in.

This is a gem of a play, soft and lyrical and full of promise.

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Fran Cattaneo

Gaps

Katzpace Studio Theatre

Reviewed – 23rd April 2018

★★★

“an astute and interesting piece of theatre exploring issues that are unique to this place and time”

Succinctly drawing together the lives and problems of five Londoners, Gaps at the Katzpace Studio theatre leads us to explore the ins and outs of both dating and simply existing in the big city. Through swift glances into the lives and interactions of office workers, teachers and dentists we’re left with more questions than we started with, but also with a certain insight as to how life here in London can be approached.

This newly devised piece is built around moments of miscommunication. As conversations lapse into silence and words are left unsaid, there’s a certain undercurrent of melancholy. The relationships played out on stage go wrong in so many ways that it’s tempting to ask if they could ever have gone right. Through this lack of connection, characters write each other off as “weird” or a “psychopath”- in other words, different from themselves and therefore impossible to understand.

Part of the tragedy of this piece is that it holds a mirror very close to real life, and the reflection isn’t pretty. The fear and anger of a woman working in an office who is being sexually and socially harassed is one we see all too often both in the news and in our own lives. Seeing it played out on a virtually empty stage is a reminder of what we as a society so often choose to look past.

Despite this level of cynicism, there are moments which are unexpectedly funny. For example, Tim Larkfield’s mild mannered primary school teacher and Joanna Lord’s brash Australian dentist clash so horribly that there’s something comedic about it. Uncomfortable, but amusing nonetheless. Grace Venning’s simple but effective set design is built around a large black and white grid as a backdrop, with heavily pixelated footage of the underground projected at intervals. This worked well for the swift, episodic nature of the play, providing structure while blending in without distracting.

However, it may be worth questioning why, in an effort to show a cross section of dating life in London, only middle class, professional and heterosexual relationships were portrayed. If this play was missing anything, it was definitely short of a sense of the true diversity that London is home to. All in all though, this is small criticism. At its heart, Gaps is an astute and interesting piece of theatre exploring issues that are unique to this place and time.

Tag Archives: Grace Venning

I Will Still Be Whole (When You Rip Me In Half)

★★★★

The Bunker

The Bunker

Reviewed – 14th November 2019

★★★★

“a gem of a play, soft and lyrical and full of promise”

There are points where the pace suffers, the energy dulls, points that don’t demand our engagement and attention. But its tenderness is also part of its charm when the balance is right.

The set, designed by Grace Venning, unites the two characters visually – even before they meet – through a tree branch both of them see from the window of the bedroom they have consecutively lived in.

This is a gem of a play, soft and lyrical and full of promise.

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Fran Cattaneo

I Will Still Be Whole (When You Rip Me In Half)

The Bunker until 23rd November

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Box Clever | ★★★★★ | March 2019

Killymuck | ★★★★ | March 2019

My White Best Friend | ★★★★★ | March 2019

Funeral Flowers | ★★★½ | April 2019

Fuck You Pay Me | ★★★★ | May 2019

The Flies | ★★★ | June 2019

Have I Told You I’m Writing a Play About my Vagina? | ★★★★ | July 2019

Jade City | ★★★ | September 2019

Germ Free Adolescent | ★★★★ | October 2019

We Anchor In Hope | ★★★★ | October 2019

Click here to see our most recent reviews

Gaps – 3 Stars

Gaps

Katzpace Studio Theatre

Reviewed – 23rd April 2018

★★★

“an astute and interesting piece of theatre exploring issues that are unique to this place and time”

Reviewed by Grace Patrick

Photography courtesy Woohoo Debbie

GAPS

Katzpace Studio Theatre until 2nd May

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At same venue

What the Feminist?! | ★★★★ | Katzpace Studio Theatre | April 2018

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com