★★★

“has the potential to go bigger, better and smarter to raise the hairs on the back of necks of everyone who dares come along”

Saint Maud at Live theatre is a murky journey of religion, death, and neglect. The story follows Maud (played by Brogan Gilbert) who is a nurse and devote believer, caring for Amanda (Dani Arlington), an atheistic ex-dancer struggling through end-of-life care. As the audience catch snapshots of Maud’s pleas to a higher power for a sign of any kind of recognition and connection, and her mission to “save” Amanda before it is too late, there is a creeping sense that all is not what as it seems.

The show is advertised as an intense watch, so it’s fair to arrive with expectations of how the company might deliver on an unsettling and shocking experience. The overall vision, though clearly thought-through and well-crafted, is unfortunately underwhelming. Admittedly, there are aspects of real majesty woven through this piece (particularly Alison Ashton’s design and Drummond Orr’s lighting); as roses are dug from sand and heaps of hair unravel from drawers, stunningly chilling lighting pulls tableaus together aptly. Starting strong, Matthew Tuckey’s sound design immediately sets a haunting scene. However, lacklustre voice overs, repetitive design motifs, and non-committal audio visuals unfortunately draw the attention away from the suspenseful magic that the heights of Maud’s sound design reach.

Transitions are directed smoothly and acted with desperate tenderness. A real strength that could be pulled out even more is the stylised movement and dance motifs which flutter through the story. Upping the stakes visually and going even further with this would inject further drama into the writing. The use of pyrotechnic effects and gauze are especially effective in drawing through scenes of isolation and damnation through the piece and are best used in the sparing moments which do garner shock or chills from the audience.

The staging is largely dynamic and presents gorgeous stills of vulnerability from actors who are pushed to the brink and demonstrate impressive range. As Maud comes into conflict with Carol, a sex worker and mother begging to provide comfort to Amanda (played by Neshla Caplan), the direction feels more fine-tuned and moving.

A clearer sense of place, time, and meaning might ground this show in something more tangible and detailed. Jack McNamara’s direction lacks clarity, and Jessica Andrews’ ambiguous writing leaves the audience asking for more. Narrative and storytelling cliches clash frustratingly with the eery helplessness and lovely poetic language (explorations of seaside deindustrialisation are, in all fairness, well-thought through and well-done). Unfortunately, the play meanders down too many paths and struggles to build and maintain tension where it is sorely needed. At every other turn, it is difficult not to feel let down by the lack of commitment to the imagining of horror as a genre; where we have hints of unnerving physicality and glimpses of body horror, these ideas are not fully followed through.

Saint Maud misses the mark in pulling off an experience which keeps an audience on their toes. The play sets up so much that could be ignited but does not come to fruition in any meaningfully daring way. As actors vanish into thin air and technical design elements arise in clever ways throughout, it’s evident Saint Maud has the potential to go bigger, better and smarter to raise the hairs on the back of necks of everyone who dares come along.

THE BOUNDS at the Royal Court

★★★

“The stakes in The Bounds are high, and there’s more than the outcome of a soccer game at risk”

The Bounds is an ambitious attempt to create a historical drama out of the origins of soccer. It’s a well chosen subject, given that the game has been a national obsession for centuries. And it’s no great stretch to imagine a form of the soccer that included a pitch that could stretch for miles, a match that could last days, and players willing to risk their lives for a chance to bring immortal glory to their team. Playwright Stewart Pringle also includes a sketched in backdrop of Tudor politics, both spiritual and secular, and a sprinkling of apocalyptic visions. That’s the gist of The Bounds, now on at the Royal Court’s Theatre Upstairs.

The Bounds begins well. We are introduced to Percy and Rowan, a couple of working class soccer players, who are determined that this will be the year that their village of Allendale finally triumphs over their arch rivals in Catton. The fact that they haven’t won in a long time does not deter their enthusiasm. Or the fact that they are on the outer peripheries of the game, miles from any action. As the good natured banter between Percy and his friend Rowan continues, we realize that these two are more like soccer fans in the stands, than players in the game. That’s Tudor soccer for you. When a third character, a classic outsider both in dress and address, enters, these two are naturally suspicious. And, this being Tudor times, accusations of witchcraft, popery and perversion start flying. When Samuel admits that he’s a college graduate (from Oxford, no less) he doesn’t help his case. Percy and Rowan, well educated in the signs of omens and portents, know that he is bad news, for all his educated ways. In this mismatched trio, all the rivalries of north versus south, working class versus middle class, and Protestantism versus Catholicism, come spilling out in a variety of ugly ways. What has all this to do with soccer? It’s a good question.

Unfortunately, the broad brush of Pringle’s own vision for his play is hampered by the fact that he has to work within the confines of a small space in the Theatre Upstairs, and with only four actors. These constraints wouldn’t have stopped the playwrights of the Tudor era, but we are in a less poetic age (in drama, at least). Where iambic pentameter could sketch a world in a few lines, we moderns tend to rely on the overuse of monosyllabic expletives. Pringle’s pared down dialogue and sketched in characters are entertaining, but with such serious subject matter as soccer and politics under discussion, the inventiveness in this piece starts to run out a while before the end of the play. Rather like the soccer game that the trio are observing.

The stakes in The Bounds are high, and there’s more than the outcome of a soccer game at risk. And that’s really where The Bounds ends up. It turns out that there are more important things than soccer games going on in Allendale. Pringle almost casually introduces us to the theme of boundaries being redrawn in The Bounds, but this is the masterstroke of Tudor strategy that echoes down the centuries, robbing local people of their spaces, and even their identities. It’s easy to see how the limitless game of soccer in Tudor times becomes the rule bound play of the modern game, confined within a single pitch of a predetermined size, and time constraints that don’t allow much flexibility. Pringle suggests that the unstructured nature of the ancient game had more freedom, despite the anarchy of play.

The actors, Soroosh Lavasani (Samuel), Ryan Nolan (Percy), Lauren Waine (Rowan) and Harry Weston (the Boy) bring an energetic presence to The Bounds. Ryan Nolan in particular, as a native Geordie, is completely at home both with the dialect and passion for the game. His versatility as a performer keeps the play focused, especially when it is in danger of drifting. Lauren Waine’s Rowan as the foil to Ryan Nolan’s Percy, is equally confident, and it is a delight to watch them play off against each other. If Soroosh Lavasani’s Samuel is less certain, it’s an accurate depiction of the place his character inhabits in Tudor society. A little education with a lot of religious indoctrination can be a dangerous thing, and Samuel proves that in spades. Harry Weston’s part may be small, but he carries the future in his lines, and his confident delivery as the Boy sounds the knell for the autonomy of folk like Percy. Jack McNamara’s direction keeps the action on the move, even within such a confined space.

Pringle’s drama is bold in its inception. If it doesn’t quite measure up to its opening promise, it may be that The Bounds needs a space, and a cast, as large as the Whitsuntide match between Allendale and Catton in the mid sixteenth century.

Tag Archives: Jack McNamara

ST MAUD

★★★

Live Theatre

ST MAUD at the Live Theatre

★★★

“has the potential to go bigger, better and smarter to raise the hairs on the back of necks of everyone who dares come along”

ST MAUD at the Live Theatre

Reviewed on 17th October 2024

by Molly Knox

Photography by Von Fox Promotions

Previously reviewed by Molly

MAISIE ADAM: APPRAISAL | ★★★★ | TYNE THEATRE & OPERA HOUSE | October 2024

IS THE WI-FI GOOD IN HELL? | ★★★★★ | EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE | August 2024

MY MOTHER’S FUNERAL:THE SHOW | ★★★★★ | EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE | August 2024

CRYING SHAME | ★★★★★ | EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE | August 2024

TIT SWINGERS | ★★★★ | EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE | August 2024

ST MAUD

ST MAUD

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

THE BOUNDS

★★★

Royal Court

THE BOUNDS at the Royal Court

★★★

“The stakes in The Bounds are high, and there’s more than the outcome of a soccer game at risk”