★★★

“this is a piece that deals with themes that have enduring relevance”

Call Me Vicky is sister duo Nicola and Stacey Bland’s debut play, set in the 1980s and following Vicky as she transitions from male to female. As well as being the brains behind the script, based entirely on a true story, the sisters perform in the show. We may now live in an arguably more understanding society compared to the 1980s, but this is a piece that deals with themes that have enduring relevance.

Much of the play is set in The Golden Girl drag club and as the audience enters the performance space, they are stamped to replicate entering a real club. The set (designed by Martha Hegarty) conforms to this well, with some audience members able to sit at tables on the edge of the stage, which are scattered with drinks glasses and leaflets. The intimate size of the performance space, as well as neon signs, adds to the club-like feel.

Family and friendship is at the heart of the play. Vicky (Matt Greenwood) and Mum, Sylvie (Wendi Peters), clearly share a close bond, with Sylvie’s concern for Vicky as she goes off out to the club with best friend Debbie (Nicola Bland) clearly displayed. The relationship between Vicky and Debbie is lovely to watch. They share banter, but also great care for one another, which is demonstrated particularly well during the play’s final scene.

Other characters include club waitress Gabby (Stacey Bland), club host Fat Pearl (Ben Welch) and Vicky’s love interest Sid (Adam Young). Stacey Bland’s Gabby is a likeable character and is easy to sympathise with in her struggles with drug addiction and motherhood. Ben Welch is entertaining as Fat Pearl, providing much of the play’s comedy. He has another minor role as an undercover policeman towards the end of the play, where he is really able to show his versatility in a hard-hitting scene with Matt Greenwood’s Vicky. Adam Young surprises as Sid. His punk-style costume suggests something quite different from the sympathetic, gentle character he goes on the play.

From an audience perspective, the play is best viewed facing straight on, with those of us sitting at the sides sometimes missing actors’ facial expressions and parts of their lines, due to them being blocked by their fellow actors. This was a minor annoyance and something to be considered, most notably in the more moving scenes of the play.

Directed by Victoria Gimby, Call Me Vicky is indeed a frank and revealing play. We gain a deeply personal insight into the life of somebody who wants to become the person they know themselves to truly be. This is made even more poignant through the knowledge the play is based on a true story. Although there are a few issues in terms of the set-up of the audience, this is an important piece of theatre, celebrating diversity and highlighting what it can take to stay true to ourselves.

Reviewed by Emily K Neal

Photography by Fabio Santos

Anomaly

Old Red Lion Theatre

Reviewed – 10th January 2019

★★★★

“Warden has raised important questions for our social media obsessed world”

Liv Warden’s play Anomaly is described as: “An unsettling debut play, exploring sisterhood, reputation and loyalty.” Phillip Preston, a powerful man in the film industry, has been arrested for GBH, after assaulting his wife. But the play is not about him. The only characters are his three daughters Piper, Penny and Polly, played by Natasha Cowley, Katherine Samuelson and Alice Handoll respectively, and their struggle to deal with what has happened to their family, and to cope with the media fallout. Piper, the eldest, works in the family business and has to try to keep it intact during the scandal following her father’s arrest. Penny is an actor in LA, who is in demand on the chat show circuit, and who has, until now, benefitted from being Preston’s daughter. Polly is the youngest, and the most fragile, newly out of rehab, both a catalyst, and a victim of excessive media attention.

The three women do not often communicate directly with each other, giving a fractured feeling to the play, appropriate to their fractured worlds. They are a strong cast, and each convince in their roles. Alice Handoll’s Polly is engaging and moving as a rebellious but vulnerable young woman. She is the only one who is worried about their mother. Penny becomes more ‘human,’ and likeable as the story develops, but Piper does not follow the expected route. It’s a tribute to Natasha Cowley that I really didn’t like her character, despite her moments of emotion as revelations pile up.

Holly Ellis’ lighting design, sometimes, having the sister who is speaking lit, while the other two remain in the shadows, works well to portray the separate struggles of the women and the lack of any true ‘sisterhood’. The voices of unseen characters, such as a talk show host, a radio presenter and Piper and Penny’s spouses work to provide context and give the women a way of telling their story. But, of course, those stories are twisted and manipulated by the media. The sister’s distant and chilly relationships fit beautifully into Charlotte Dennis’ white, contemporary set. It is hyperstylised, with a slash of red, like a torn piece of a tabloid headline and just three white blocks that the sisters sit on. The sound design, by Fuzz Guthrie is also atmospheric and abstract.

Anomaly an unsettling play that leaves the audience questioning; why do we fixate on family tragedy and the pain of others, particularly the rich and famous. And why do we still blame women who perhaps don’t speak out, or who cannot accept the reality of the male brutality that they are confronted with. Your father is still your father, if he causes serious harm to your mother. How would that feel, how would we cope if it happened in our family? Warden has raised important questions for our social media obsessed world, and Adam Small’s direction keeps the stylised world of the play on point. This play packs a punch with its timely look at an issue that has been brought to the fore by scandals like the Weinstein affair.

Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed – 21st February 2019

★★★

“this is a piece that deals with themes that have enduring relevance”

Reviewed by Emily K Neal

Photography by Fabio Santos

Call Me Vicky

Pleasance Theatre until 9th March

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Old Red Lion Theatre

Reviewed – 10th January 2019

★★★★

“Warden has raised important questions for our social media obsessed world”

Reviewed by Katre

Photography by Headshot Tom

Anomaly

Old Red Lion Theatre until 2nd February

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: