★★★

“Regan clearly has a talent for light-hearted comedy and storytelling”

16 Postcodes is a series of short, autobiographic stories told by actor Jessica Regan about her experiences living in London. An audience member is invited up on stage to pick a postcode (written on a postcard and attached to the backdrop of the stage) and Regan performs the selected story. Each story is about a different London gaff and the spans are wide: from North to South, East to West. Regan has been on an expansive and diverse journey, trying to find what London means to her.

She greets the audience as they enter, innocently asking them where they’re from, to get them thinking about locations. She riffs with ease, nudging the audience into feeling comfortable about mild participation.

Regan clearly has a talent for light-hearted comedy and storytelling, combining both in this easy viewing series. As we dart through different postcodes, Regan covers important topics, such as: women’s safety, homelessness, feeling out of place, tight landlords. And she does this with a likeable comedic edge, blending naturalism with stand-up comedy.

The staging was a bare setup; simply with a table, two chairs and a small backdrop of greenery where Regan attaches the postcards with postcodes on. It could’ve been even simpler, giving her more freedom of movement, something which the show lacked. While the rough and ready set added to the charm of the piece, it felt clunky, at times; with Regan getting stuck behind obstacles while addressing the audience. There was use of a mic at one point too, which raised questions about its use and the reason for it.

The lighting and sound, too, were basic. With small changes either signifying time of day or change of scene, rather than mood and atmosphere. This meant that the show relied solely on Regan to deliver engaging narrative, which she did execute a lot of the time. The humour was a little tame and lacked some renter grit, but it made for an entertaining fifty minutes.

Any Londoner would see etchings of themselves in these short tales of renting, with humour used as a relieving mode of coping and a medium which ties the community together. There is felt, lived experience in the storytelling. 16 Postcodes finishes with some sad truths about the state of the renting sector. The show covers a timeline which starts in 2004, and the factual ending is a stark reminder of the situation a large number of Londoners find themselves in.

STRIKE! at the Southwark Playhouse

★★★★★

“There are more laughs than might be expected balanced with a poignancy that brought some of this audience close to tears”

Ardent Theatre Company presents the story, written by Tracy Ryan, of nine Irish shopgirls and one shop boy who after refusing to handle South African goods embark on nearly three years of strike action which culminates in a landmark ruling from the Irish parliament.

The set is effectively simple (Designer Libby Watson): a set of double doors in front of which a picket line will be formed for much of the action. The name of the Dublin store Dunnes is spelt out in coloured lights. A monochrome outline of what will become South Africa’s national flag is painted out on the floor.

The story starts within the store itself and a group of high-spirited shop girls are preparing to start work, changing their clothes into the regulation shop uniform. One of them, Mary Manning (Chloe O’Reilly) is about to change their lives forever when following an edict from their Union, she refuses to handle a South African grapefruit. She is duly suspended by the shop management and a walk out in solidarity from all the shopgirls ensues.

From time to time, a narrator tells us where we are. Karen (Jessica Regan) ably takes the brunt of this task but the role is nicely shared around other characters. There are two stories being told here. Firstly, that of the camaraderie and resilience of the striking shop-workers and then that of the bigger picture, the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Amidst much light-heartedness, a dignity is provided with the arrival of Nimrod Sejake (Mensah Bediako), a South African exile of twenty years and former prison mate of Nelson Mandela. From him the shop-workers (and the audience) learn of the horrors of the apartheid regime and why the strike really matters.

As the story progresses, we learn small bits about each of the strikers in turn. Much amusing repartee forms around the effervescent Liz (Anne O’Riordan); Vonnie (Doireann May White) is in danger of losing her house; Tommy (Adam Isla O’Brien) is beaten up by the Garda in a brilliantly danced solo scene with effective blood red spotlighting (Lighting Designer Jamie Platt). Versatile Paul Carroll takes up the double roles of sleazy tie-fiddling shop manager Paul and Union Leader Brendan with just the change of a sweater and a restyling of his hair.

But this is predominantly an ensemble piece and the slick movement of the group, directed by Kirsty Patrick Ward, is excellent and the sharing of dialogue fluent. Small set pieces within the narrative provide dramatic variety. The ensemble don headscarves to become a group of angry mothers, sport plastic bags and umbrellas for a scene in the rain, sing a beautifully performed rendition of trade union folk classic Which Side Are You On?

There is much to be enjoyed here in a non-stop ninety minutes. There are more laughs than might be expected balanced with a poignancy that brought some of this audience close to tears. The tale is well-presented, brilliantly performed, and, at the same time, both genuinely moving and entertaining.

16 POSTCODES at the Pleasance Theatre

★★★

“Regan clearly has a talent for light-hearted comedy and storytelling”

16 POSTCODES at the Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed on 29th October 2024

by Curtis Dean

Photography by Steve Ullathorne

Previously reviewed at this venue:

16 POSTCODES

16 POSTCODES

STRIKE! at the Southwark Playhouse

★★★★★

“There are more laughs than might be expected balanced with a poignancy that brought some of this audience close to tears”

Ardent Theatre Company presents the story, written by Tracy Ryan, of nine Irish shopgirls and one shop boy who after refusing to handle South African goods embark on nearly three years of strike action which culminates in a landmark ruling from the Irish parliament.

There is much to be enjoyed here in a non-stop ninety minutes. There are more laughs than might be expected balanced with a poignancy that brought some of this audience close to tears. The tale is well-presented, brilliantly performed, and, at the same time, both genuinely moving and entertaining.

Reviewed on 17th April 2023

by Phillip Money

Photography by Mark Douet

Previously reviewed at Southwark Playhouse: