Tag Archives: Jess Edwards

ELEPHANT

★★★★

Menier Chocolate Factory

ELEPHANT

Menier Chocolate Factory

★★★★

“We are fascinated by what Lucas has to say, but it’s the music that truly speaks for itself”

As we sit round an upright piano, we are given an in-depth analysis of the aftereffects of striking a piano key. How the slim slab of ivory trips a lever which brings a soft felt-lined hammer onto a metal string, which, in turn, causes the air to vibrate eventually spreading across the room and filling each of us with the same vibration that we call music. We are inextricably linked and reeled in by the unifying hook that transfixes us. Anoushka Lucas is the one telling us all this, although she doesn’t need this allegory to catch, and to hold, our attention. She is a natural-born raconteur, with a charismatic flair to match.

“Elephant” is written, composed and performed by Lucas. We suspect that there are veiled, autobiographical elements hidden within her monologue, but she is telling us Lylah’s story who, at the age of seven, watched a group of workmen rip out the windows of her family’s council flat to lower a piano into their living room. From then on it dominated her small living space, her life and her love affair with music began. This love of music drives the narrative, but it is fuelled by various pivotal moments in Lylah’s life that shape her identity as a mixed-race, working-class girl who dares to be different. Who dares to cross the class divide. Who dares to defy the white, misogynistic expectations that music executives have for her career. Who dares to challenge the innate and unearned privilege of colonialist descendants.

Lylah is continually drawn back to the piano. Sitting centre stage, slowly revolving as Lucas plays and sings. Entirely acoustic and without the aid of technological trickery her singing is intimate, rich and mellow. The piano is an extension of Lylah but when a song ends, we are back in the narrative and the piano becomes the elephant in the room. Lylah’s piano has ivory keys, and she has a hard time reconciling the beauty of her instrument with the cruelty that went into its construction. The brutal tearing out of the tusks from the elephant’s face, the use of enslaved people to transport the tusk. Lucas is able to revisit this theme with ease without hammering the point. Jess Edwards’ supple direction is sensitive to the crescendos and diminuendos of Lylah’s story; each element played as part of a rhapsody. A sharp piano note heralds a twist in the tale while Laura Howards lighting shifts through shades to illuminate the various phases of her life. We learn a lot about Lylah’s childhood – Lucas is expert at seeing the world through a child’s eyes, and then retaining that unfiltered honesty, bringing it with her into adulthood. Love comes in the form of Leo, a session drummer, who invites her to his family cottage. The ’cottage’ is, in fact, a nine-bedroom country manor, furnished with the trappings of the Empire. Including a mahogany grand piano. Lylah cannot prevent herself addressing the ‘elephant in the room’ – literal and symbolic – and the anger that pours out is heartfelt and human without being sanctimonious or political.

We then return to the music. Then back to another episode of life. But always back to the music. Sometimes the musical interludes are brief, and the show could perhaps do with more performance and less talk. The show is bookended by the observation that the black and the white keys on a piano are disproportionately balanced. It is an interesting analogy at the beginning, but we don’t need it repeated. Lucas has shown us that music is blind to this distinction. We are fascinated by what Lucas has to say, but it’s the music that truly speaks for itself.



ELEPHANT

Menier Chocolate Factory

Reviewed on 30th May 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Manuel Harlan

 

 


 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

DRACULA, A COMEDY OF TERRORS | ★★★★ | March 2025
THE PRODUCERS | ★★★★★ | December 2024
THE CABINET MINISTER | ★★★★ | September 2024
CLOSE UP – THE TWIGGY MUSICAL | ★★★ | September 2023
THE THIRD MAN | ★★★ | June 2023
THE SEX PARTY | ★★★★ | November 2022
LEGACY | ★★★★★ | March 2022
HABEAS CORPUS | ★★★ | December 2021
BRIAN AND ROGER | ★★★★★ | November 2021

 

 

ELEPHANT

ELEPHANT

ELEPHANT

CONVERSATIONS AFTER SEX

★★★

Park Theatre

CONVERSATIONS AFTER SEX

Park Theatre

★★★

“a play that focuses more on glimpses of intimacy and character variety rather than any tangible plot with a clear ending”

Desire, grief, family, sexually transmitted diseases and much more can be found in this production of Conversations After Sex. Written by Mark O’Halloran, this show unveils how we connect in our modern times and how we deal with whatever life throws at us. Because sometimes distracting ourselves with different physical experiences, like having sex or taking substances, is the only way to stay afloat and not sink.

That’s what our unnamed female character seems to be navigating, as she goes through sexual partners of various temperaments, interests and ages and as she spends wild night after wild night. After they’ve had sex, they discuss about previous or current relationships, life or whatever else comes up once the emotional walls she normally has built up have been lowered, even briefly. More and more is revealed about her till we get a better picture and understanding of her life. Her older sister also joins for a few scenes, giving a bit more of a perspective than what the protagonist would have liked to share.

The pace is steady throughout, not really altering or fluctuating throughout the play. The two main actors find moments of emotional vulnerability and are really present with one another, but don’t really go the extra mile to help the audience engage more. Julian Moore-Cook jumps in and out of all the male characters’ accents and physicalities smoothly and swiftly, which fits with the protagonist’s nonchalant performance. Olivia Lindsay as the female protagonist plays with no exaggerated passion or turmoil, which is intriguing and grounding, but does leave the audience with a sense of hanging, like there were things left unsaid and unfinished. Jo Herbert’s appearance as the sister is brief, yet sobering for us and the protagonist, a voice or reason and a reminder that everyone goes through different struggles.

Under the direction of Jess Edwards, it’s a play that focuses more on glimpses of intimacy and character variety rather than any tangible plot with a clear ending. The main focus is definitely the balance, and imbalance, of the protagonist with her respective sexual partners, but during a heartbreaking moment when her deceased ex visits her while she’s macrodosing, we’re left wondering if this is more about how the human soul breaks apart and the challenges of recovering.

The set (Georgia Wilmot) is simple, efficient and practical. In the middle, a queen-sized bed, all in pastel pink, and in the background, a big wall of neon light that assists with the transitions and dominates the mood of each interaction. Transitions are cleverly choreographed and exciting to watch, with the light changes and music intervals (Bethany Gupwell and Xana respectively), which offer a helpful intro and outro for the many characters we encounter.

In a world where disconnection is more and more prominent, Conversations After Sex has the potential to shine light onto the people hiding behind dating apps, substances and loneliness. The delivery does get stagnant and unspecific, but is entertaining nonetheless.



CONVERSATIONS AFTER SEX

Park Theatre

Reviewed on 2nd May 2025

by Stephanie Christodoulidou

Photography by Jake Bush

 


 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

FAREWELL MR HAFFMANN | ★★★★ | March 2025
ONE DAY WHEN WE WERE YOUNG | ★★★ | March 2025
ANTIGONE | ★★★★★ | February 2025
CYRANO | ★★★ | December 2024
BETTE & JOAN | ★★★★ | December 2024
GOING FOR GOLD | ★★★★ | November 2024
THE FORSYTE SAGA | ★★★★★ | October 2024
AUTUMN | ★★½ | October 2024
23.5 HOURS | ★★★ | September 2024
BITTER LEMONS | ★★★½ | August 2024

CONVERSATIONS AFTER SEX

CONVERSATIONS AFTER SEX

CONVERSATIONS AFTER SEX