Helen Tennison Archives - thespyinthestalls.com

★★½

“an exercise in acting of the kind that feels like one long improvisation”

Dirty Corset, produced as part of the 2022 New Work Season at the Pleasance Theatre in Islington, is one of several shows on offer in a venue that has not only survived the pandemic, but seems to be thriving. That’s good news in these difficult times. Dirty Corset, directed by Helen Tennison for the Bang Average Theatre Company, seems like a good choice for this venue, as it is also about making a living in the theatre in difficult times. Dirty Corset is a “re-imagined” take on Restoration Comedy. But this show focuses on the fleas, and not the elegance, of post Civil War theatre. Modern, and even postmodern, playwrights have taken on this trope before. The Bang Average Theatre Company pushes it into new territory. Bad smells, and bad language, are the predominant themes.

To be fair, the actors do warn that Dirty Corset is loaded, if that is the right word, from the outset. The first thing the audience sees, in entering the space downstairs at the Pleasance, are the corsets themselves. These, and the other costume pieces hung from lines draped around the set, are clean, even blindingly white, clean. But no one should relax. It’s all an ironic set up for the grubbiness that follows. The seventy minute show excels in presenting the audience with incongruities throughout. Actors Laurie Coldwell, Chloe Darke and Susannah Scott go from minutes of lying inert on large, white cushioned squares while the audience files in, to exploding into action once the lights go down. The acting style is eye poppingly physical. Raw eggs are featured, and do not have a happy ending.

Is Dirty Corset Restoration Comedy, re-imagined? Audiences will find it a matter of personal taste — still a new idea in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Dirty Corset tells the disjointed, and rather hard to follow, tale of a group of itinerant, flea ridden actors trying their luck in the indifferent North. Aptly named Mary Moralless, Isabinda McLovealot and Neil Hasbeen, Coldwell, Darke and Scott switch between playing their roles on stage, playing the actors off it, and sometimes their modern selves, with bewildering speed. This doesn’t give the audience a lot of time to identify with any of these switcheroos, or even care. Bang Average have done some research, and some of the details of the seventeenth century actors’ lives are undoubtably accurate. But for the most part, Dirty Corset chooses to ignore the fact that Restoration Comedy was an elegant style of theatre — a new theatre for its times, of Reason and Wit, despite its bawdiness.

Ultimately, Dirty Corset is an exercise in acting of the kind that feels like one long improvisation. The Company acknowledges as much in their programme notes. As such, it works quite well. It shows off the actors’ athleticism and versatility to great effect. But the script is deconstructed (much like the costumes) in a way that doesn’t leave much room to focus on anything else but the acting. Dirty Corset is the kind of show that will appeal to festivals, and it is a great showcase for energetic young actors. But for audiences who like a good script as well as good acting and solid production values — this offering by Bang Average is all about the underwear, and may feel a little underdressed.

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Hannah Sorrell

Dracula

The London Library

Reviewed – 7th February 2019

★★★★

“Creation Theatre are able to harness the power of the space to great effect, resulting in an exciting and engaging piece of theatre”

So it turns out that Count Dracula, whose Transylvanian castle has surely been the site of many a nightmare, was a Londoner the whole time. He was born, from the pen of Bram Stoker, between the shelves of the London Library. Appropriately, upon entering the library’s Reading Room on a gloomy February evening, it emits the same eerie atmosphere that Stoker was able to evoke through words over a hundred years ago.

This is the first play that the London Library has ever staged; at first, it may strike the sceptic as nothing more than a novelty. But Creation Theatre are able to harness the power of the space to great effect, resulting in an exciting and engaging piece of theatre.

Dracula himself never appears in person: instead, the story traces his effect on newlyweds Jonathan and Mina Harker. Jonathan is a solicitor who visits Transylvania on a business trip and returns a different man. Mina, who is staying in Whitby with her cousin Lucy, is witness to many strange events, including the kidnapping of children and Lucy’s sudden death. The play opens at the aftermath of these traumas, with the Harkers attempting to piece together what happened, and why.

Adaptor Kate Kerrow’s decision to re-order Stoker’s narrative might lead to some confusion for those who are unfamiliar with his expansive, detailed plot. Nonetheless, her narrative is engaging and allows the audience to play detective. Every role is played by either Bart Lambert or Sophie Greenham, who throw themselves into the action with relentless energy. Lambert thrives at playing extreme characters. He invests the mentally scarred Jonathan with a very believable sense of mania whilst avoiding the trap of caricature. Greenham is a strong ballast against the frantic energy of her co-star, providing a sense of reality through her grounded portrayals of Mina and Dr. Seward. They also give Kerrow’s narrative arc – on the theme of repressed sexuality – some credibility, though perhaps not enough for it to feel entirely at home in the story.

The third actor in the piece is obviously the Reading Room itself, every aspect of which is harnessed by the creative team. Director Helen Tennison draws our attention to different parts of the room: action happens in front of us, above us, behind us – even outside. Projections and sound effects initiate genuine moments of fear, even if they occasionally lean a little too far into melodrama. Designer Ryan Dawson Laight also fills the shelves with hidden treasures: not just props, but books and objects. The colourful Romanian-English dictionary slid between the old volumes is a reminder of the elusive Count’s omnipresence.

It remains a mystery how compelling this production would be without the aid of its setting. Nevertheless, the London Library and Creation Theatre must be praised for creating such a vivid piece of theatre. Dracula is a unique experience, especially for those with a love of books and their creation, or who have a fascination with libraries and the secrets that they hold.

Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed – 19th April 2022

★★½

“an exercise in acting of the kind that feels like one long improvisation”

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Hannah Sorrell

Dirty Corset

Pleasance Theatre until 24th April

Previously reviewed at this venue:

The London Library

Reviewed – 7th February 2019

★★★★

“Creation Theatre are able to harness the power of the space to great effect, resulting in an exciting and engaging piece of theatre”

This is the first play that the London Library has ever staged; at first, it may strike the sceptic as nothing more than a novelty. But Creation Theatre are able to harness the power of the space to great effect, resulting in an exciting and engaging piece of theatre.

Reviewed by Harriet Corke

Photography by Richard Budd

Dracula

The London Library until 2nd March

Last ten reviews by Harriet Corke: