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The Golden F**king Years – 3 Stars

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Years

The Golden F**king Years

Jack Studio Theatre

Reviewed – 19th April 2018

★★★

“makes you laugh out loud finding out why life never gets less complicated”

 

On the hottest April day for seventy years it felt quite fitting to be whisked away to the sunshine of the Med without even having to leave the Jack Studio Theatre – which was gratefully cooled to perfection this balmy evening.

Helen, weary and stifled (played by Deborah Maclaren), and the bemusingly irritating Gordon (played by Adrian McLoughlin) have retired to the Mediterranean. They spend their time mostly on their balcony overlooking the sea, where one reads lots of books and one drinks quite a lot gin and they both watch the world go by.

They’re comfortable. But life isn’t as idyllic as expected and their amusing conversations leave clues of growing dissatisfaction … a mix of boredom brought on by inactivity and a touch of ‘jaded old age’ start to show their differing feelings on life.

The arrival of a confident younger woman (played by Anneli Page) in town shakes them both out of their attempt to relax into old age. Both their lives alter. Are they settled or simply settling …? Sex, alcohol, a couple of dubious brownies and a lot of misbehaviour spirals humorously out of control, and brings serious repercussions!

The simple but effective set (Chris de Wilde) worked well and the lighting (Ben Jacobs) and music (from sound designer Jack Barton) were used perfectly to move the story around the claustrophobic Spanish resort expat area setting.

In the 21st Century, where people live a lot longer, feeling a lot younger, this play aims to challenge what it means to grow old gracefully and disgracefully alike. I liked the way it explored the ‘norms’ of behaviour, ‘standard thinking’, and the trap of stereotyping, as well as pondering what emphasis you ought to give to what others think of you! Three lives are exposed, three pasts and three futures, all proving you don’t need to be young to be stupid! This witty play from Adrian McLoughlin makes you laugh out loud finding out why life never gets less complicated.

Whether you’re retired yourself, planning an early escape from working life, or pretending it’s too far in the future to contemplate, this show makes you wonder what will fill your time when the nine to five comes to an end – just remember growing older may not equal growing wiser!

 

Reviewed by Joanna Hinson

Photography by Chris de Wilde

 


The Golden F**king Years

Jack Studio Theatre until 28th April

 

Related
Previous Shows at Jack Studio Theatre
Fear and Misery of the Third Reich | ★★★ | Jack Studio Theatre | January 2018
Stuffed | ★★★★ | Jack Studio Theatre | March 2018
Three Sisters | ★★★★ | Jack Studio Theatre | March 2018

 

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Three Sisters – 4 Stars

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Sisters

Three Sisters

Jack Studio Theatre

Reviewed – 22nd March 2018

★★★★

“a decadent and impressive show”

 

The Three Sisters is considered among one of Chekhov’s most brilliant, but perhaps lesser known plays. The story centres on the Pozorov family of sisters Olga, Masha and Irina and their brother Andrei. With the family leaving Moscow some eleven years prior to the start of the play, and both parents recently deceased, the siblings yearn to be back in their home city, but there’s always something holding them back. The girls make fun of the locals who they see as lacking culture and beneath them, and their sources of excitement come from the military men who are stationed in the town whereas Andrei is enchanted by a local girl, Natasha. As the play progresses, so does the Pozorov’s dissatisfaction and longing for something more.

Each character has a different way of dealing with their uncertainty; when we meet the youngest sister Irina on her 20th birthday, she is jubilant to have discovered the meaning of life is to work, although her enthusiasm for her job at the post office and then the county council quickly wanes as she does not find the meaning she was promised. Victoria Llewellyn successfully portrays this naivete hardening to eventual capitulation as the piece progresses. The soldier Vershinin however, played by Toby Wynn Davies, has a more philosophical refrain. Unhappily married with a wife who repeatedly attempts suicide and starts an affair with Masha, he hopes that the things we do in this life make small changes that will accumulate to overhaul the lives of those in the future.

While this may seem rather depressing, as with life, there are plenty of distractions that pivot away from the more dour moments; servants and lower ranking soldiers provide light relief as does Masha’s ill suited husband (played by Stephen MacNeice) who, even at the most trying times, is ready with a prop or a joke to lighten the mood. Conor Moss as Baron Tuzenbach, whose love for Irena is painfully unrequited, hits the perfect balance between goofy and endearing in his pursuits.

With a large cast of fourteen, densely packed sets and musical interludes, this is a decadent and impressive show from Arrows and Traps Theatre Company, richly evoking 19th century Russian sensibilities. However, the disillusionment and quest for meaning are very modern concerns that feel as relevant today as ever.

 

Reviewed by Amber Woodward

Photography by Davor Tovarlaza

 


Three Sisters

Jack Studio Theatre until 14th April

 

 

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