★★★★

“a heart-warming story with an unexpected ending”

Three black walls, a black floor, a running machine and a giant exercise ball. One remarkable solo writer-performer. That’s what it takes to make one heck of a show at Reading Rep.

Harriet Madeley is an award-winning writer, actor, producer and co-director of the theatre company Crowded Room which ‘specialises in true stories that get people talking’. Mid-way through writing a new play about death – the subject no-one wants to talk about that we have all but airbrushed out of our lives – the wheel of fate took an unexpected turn. Madeley was diagnosed with a rare and chronic disease called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC). The condition, which attacks the liver and bile ducts, affects around seven in every million in the UK. Life expectancy of sufferers can be as short as ten years and there is, as yet, no cure.

On stage Harriet Madeley becomes a ditsy journalist called Olive who must recruit interviewees for an article about terminal illness. When Olive finds herself similarly diagnosed, her own life unravels in a rapidly descending spiral of laugh out loud comic moments. She even wonders whether her own death could become her own best career break yet.

The show does not flag for a second as Madeley interacts with recordings and delivers a series of reflective monologues on her condition. As those around her struggle to accept her fate and she goes off at a very unexpected tangent, we get to know Olive’s fiancée, parents and friends in a heart-warming story with an unexpected ending.

With simple and effective video and lighting by Megan Lucas, sound by Bella Kear and some smart direction from Madelaine Moore, this thought provoking new play more than merits its Summerhall Lustrum Award for Unforgettable Theatre. It is a warm and life-enhancing version of the performer’s own terminal diagnosis story and deserves to run and run.

HEDDA GABLER at the Reading Rep Theatre

★★★★★

“a thrillingly inventive show, with strong and engaging performances from every cast member”

The programme promises an ‘electric’ performance ‘steeped in queer rage exploring how the most famous female character of all time is trapped within a life chosen for her’. This off-putting hyperbole shouldn’t stop you rushing to see this terrific re-imagining of Ibsen’s famous 1891 masterpiece.

Turn-of-the-century Norway has become present day London in Harriet Madeley’s sassy new play which is a co-production with A Girl Called Stephen Theatre, which has as its mission ‘queer/womxn led theatre for Reading and beyond’. The script is sharp and witty with heaps of semi-poetic dialogue that includes a knowing line about White Company bedlinen and another about school mums with ‘puffa coats and keep cups’. In this production there’s also clever use of a pair of microphones that heighten the audience’s appreciation of key passages of dialogue.

The cast of five is directed by Annie Kershaw. She has put together a thrillingly inventive show, with strong and engaging performances from every cast member. Anna Popplewell fizzes with magnificent frustration as Hedda, stuck in a new marriage with an innocent young academic called George. This may be her first stage role, but she has distinguished film and TV credits including the Chronicles of Narnia for Disney and Love in a Cold Climate for the BBC.

Mark Desebrock’s George (Globe on Tour, Beauty and the Beast at NT and many more) is likeably naïve and a perfect foil to Hedda. Ryan Gerald makes George’s publisher Brack a vividly gangling wide-boy. George’s former male colleague and new rival Eilert Lövborg has become Hedda’s lover Isla in this show. She’s played with energy and conviction by Jessica Temple (Peter Pan, National Theatre and roles at Nottingham and Bristol). Natalie Perera strikes just the right note for Thea, Isla’s slightly goofy and foolish lover and co-worker.

Designer Amy Watts has devised a striking set with a deep well almost like a boxing ring at its centre. The simple design enables some impressively creative lighting design by Murong Li. The sound design by Jamie Lu is similarly smart, with some subtle atmospheric sounds that ramp up the tension just when it is needed.

In the thrilling second half, the light-hearted verbal fisticuffs shift up several gears. To escape her trap, Hedda must ‘do something beautiful’. An impressive denouement is achieved at speed and with the shocking impact of the best classical tragedy.

Tag Archives: Harriet Madeley

OUTPATIENT

★★★★

Reading Rep Theatre

OUTPATIENT at Reading Rep Theatre

★★★★

“a heart-warming story with an unexpected ending”

OUTPATIENT at Reading Rep Theatre

Reviewed on 17th October 2024

by David Woodward

Photography by Harry Elletson

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING OSCAR | ★★★★★ | May 2024

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE | ★★★★★ | December 2023

SHAKESPEARE’S R&J | ★★★★ | October 2023

HEDDA GABLER | ★★★★★ | February 2023

DORIAN | ★★★★ | October 2021

OUTPATIENT

OUTPATIENT

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Hedda Gabler

★★★★★

Reading Rep Theatre