Tag Archives: Jess Bernberg

A New and Better You – 4 Stars

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Better

A New and Better You

The Yard Theatre

Reviewed – 29th June 2018

★★★★

“Harbot’s script has some beautiful language and is rather poetic in parts”

 

A New and Better You, written by Joe Harbot and directed by Cheryl Gallacher, tells the story of an unnamed protagonist (played by Hannah Traylen) as she transforms from an unmotivated loser to a superstar wellness influencer. It’s a biting critique of the online self-help movement and the soulless consumerism at the heart of it.

The protagonist’s “upgrade” is overseen by two–also unnamed–characters, who seem like a mix of motivational speakers and PR consultants. They are played by the excellent Saffron Coomber and Alex Austin. Their creepy smiles and upbeat attitudes are enough to set your teeth on edge. The acting overall is superb, in particular from Traylen who is able to move from depressed to ecstatic seamlessly and is able to subtly show the cracks starting to appear in the star’s supposedly “new and improved” self.

Harbot’s script has some beautiful language and is rather poetic in parts. One long monologue where the protagonist lists, and apologises, for all of her flaws, is especially moving. However, the frequency of these long, abstract monologues becomes a bit repetitive, and while these speeches about how to improve oneself do reflect the themes of the play I couldn’t help but wish for a bit more dialogue and action. While the script certainly proves its point about the absurdity and shallowness of the self-improvement world, the play feels like it is lacking in structure.

The design is sublime. Bethany Wells has created a surrealist masterpiece with a diamond shape sandpit at the centre of the stage and a gold diamond stuck to the brick wall at the back of the theatre. The projections of motivational quotes and emojis are funny, stylish and add to the overall nightmarish feeling, without ever being intrusive. The stylish design and projections are further complimented by the excellent design and sound/composition. Jess Bernberg’s lighting design is original and mesmerising, in particular in the final climactic scene where we are made to feel as though we are in a desert; the lights perfectly mimic the sun, swirling sand and hot, blurry air. Josh Anio Grigg’s sound, like the projections, never feels invasive but rather like another layer of this creepy, false world of gym exercises and product endorsements.

Overall, A New and Better You is slick, stylish, and a haunting look at the ends some people will go to to improve themselves. Well worth a watch.

Reviewed for thespyinthestalls.com

Photography by Helen Murray

 


A New and Better You

The Yard Theatre until  14th July

 

Related
Previously reviewed at this venue
Buggy Baby | ★★★★ | March 2018
Three Sisters | ★★★★ | May 2018

 

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Buggy Baby – 4 Stars

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Buggy

Buggy Baby

The Yard Theatre

Reviewed – 13th March 2018

★★★★

“a beautiful elision of the comic and the tragic, the everyday and the fantastical”

 

Five of them left a country they could no longer live in, only Nur and Jaden made it here. Baby Aya wears a bright pink helmet to make her head round again, after it has been misshapen by sleeping in a buggy – they can’t afford a cot. Nur (Hoda Bentaher) spends most days at college, trying to make a better life for the three of them. Whilst Nur is out, Aya is looked after by Jaden (Noof McEwan), who describes himself as a “drug addict, refugee, can’t speak English”. Who could resist that on a dating profile, he muses. He is addicted to “leaves”, but each trip plagues him with visions of his lost wife, Yusrah, stuck inside baby Aya, and as he begins to chew more and more, the boundary between their everyday reality and his surrealist delusions begins to waver.

Baby Aya is played by grown adult, Jasmine Jones, whose characterisation is smart, funny and sharp, whilst still managing to remain always convincing as a baby. She is more insightful in her shrewd commentary than her parental figures, but hopelessly dependent upon them. In fact there isn’t a weak link across these performances. Bentaher and McEwan excel, as they move further and further apart.

The set is flawless. A one eyed bunny, a hovering wardrobe, white plastic chair to match white plastic fridge, an expanse of light pink carpet and a hula hoop in the corner. And almost out of eye’s reach, the axe hanging way up high on the wall under a sign that reads “In Case of Emergency’. The piece is impeccably designed all round, from the fantastically creative set by Max Johns, which works beautifully with Jess Bernberg’s excellent lighting design, to the ominous sound, composed and designed by Giles Thomas.

There is a danger at times that we lose the issues in this sense of surrealist spectacle, the severity of the situation dulled over and over by an element of play. However it is more likely that these issues get lost in each other as we weave from being a refugee, to a single mother, onto a drug addict, onto abuse, poverty, homelessness and PTSD. We are left with a sense of important issues being present, without them being tangibly discussed or resolved. That being said it is also an unfortunately necessary reminder that these issues do intersect, and that refugees are parents, students, addicts alike. It is certainly a refreshing, funny and engaging take on the refugee crisis and the ramifications of the lack of support for refugees.

This piece is a beautiful elision of the comic and the tragic, the everyday and the fantastical, and a definite must-see.

 

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by The Other Richard

 


Buggy Baby

The Yard Theatre until 31st March

 

 

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