Joe Price Archives - Page 3 of 3 - thespyinthestalls.com

Killymuck

The Bunker

Reviewed – 28th March 2019

★★★★

“an honest and informative play that confirms that we are not all born equal”

Since opening in 2016 the Bunker Theatre has remained true to the initial objective of being home to exhilarating and contemporary theatre, representing the world in which we live. The current season, announced as revolutionary from new artistic director Chris Sonnex, features a double bill of one-woman shows – namely Killymuck and Box Clever. Whilst each show can be seen individually on separate dates, watching both the same day is recommended, as whilst very different, together they have a connection of putting female benefits-class and working-class voices forward.

Written from personal experience by Kat Woods Killymuck tells the story of Niamh, a young woman growing up below the poverty line on a Northern Ireland housing estate in the late 1970’s Thatcher Years. We are given an insight into what growing up on a council estate is like and how it can affect the present and inform the future.

Designer Minglu Wang has created a versatile space from which we learn much about Niamh’s family and friends and the experiences that forge her personality. Whilst telling her life stories she is generally within the confines of a square surrounded by eight vertical fluorescent tubes. When she steps outside of these she takes on a lecturer style giving the audience facts about equality and class. It both informs and entertains. We learn about her unpleasant alcoholic father but also laugh along with her stories of local boys, a Ouji Board and babysitting for the sex worker who lives next door.

The part of Niamh is played with much confidence, energy and conviction by the outstanding Aoife Lennon. Her performance is faultless and thoroughly deserved the rousing applause she received from the attentive audience. The lighting design from Joe Price enhances the actor’s performance and Benjamin Grant’s sound design also adds to the atmosphere. The direction from Caitriona Shoobridge ensures Lennon keeps the pace of this thought provoking play and makes perfect use of the space available.

Overall this is a fine piece of theatre from three very talented women involved in the writing, acting and direction of an honest and informative play that confirms that we are not all born equal and don’t all have the same opportunities in life.

Reviewed by Steve Sparrow

Photography by Craig Sugden

Killymuck

The Bunker until 13th April

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Reboot: Shorts 2 | ★★★★ | October 2018

The Interpretation of Dreams | ★★★ | November 2018

Sam, The Good Person | ★★★ | January 2019

Welcome To The UK | ★★ | January 2019

My White Best Friend | ★★★★★ | March 2019

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com

★★★★

“a creative and sophisticated production”

Hal Coase’s adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s ‘Mrs Dalloway’ opens with a meta-theatrical “pre-amble” as Emma D’Arcy and Clare Lawrence Moody tell us where they live in London and when they first read ‘Mrs Dalloway’. It is a bold and exciting beginning that plays with form, just as Woolf does.

It is the story many know so well, of course. Across a single day in London in 1923, Clarissa Dalloway (Clare Perkins) is getting ready for a party, a party that she will be hosting tonight. At the same time, Septimus Warren Smith, a veteran of the First World War is struggling desperately to separate fantasy and reality, and is looking for help amongst the very people who will later be Clarissa’s guests. It is no easy feat to adapt, but Coase has done a brilliant job, and under Thomas Bailey’s highly capable direction, moments of internal thought and external conversation are wittily punctuated and communicated.

As well as performing in the piece, D’Arcy is the joint artistic director of theatre company Forward Arena and is responsible for the design of all their productions to date. For Mrs Dalloway, this is simple, aesthetic and sophisticated. A blue patch of sky on the back wall is later joined by another patch of sunset. Cream costumes blend into a curtain. Portable cassette players create the bustling sound of London, an overlapping soundscape of people. Bailey creates the party scene with a row of microphones, a cramped panel setup that is highly evocative. Occasional nods to modernity in the form of an iPhone and an Oyster card could work, but stand alone as they are, they feel lacklustre.

The production boasts some wonderful performances. Moody is particularly good. She has a liveliness and a playful energy that she brings to each role in turn. Guy Rhys as Septimus lacks depth and is unfortunately unconvincing meaning the emotional impact of his plight has limited effect. He is, however, the only weak link in an otherwise strong cast.

This is a creative and sophisticated production on all fronts, well crafted and beautifully delivered.

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Ollie Grove

The Bunker

Reviewed – 28th March 2019

★★★★

“an honest and informative play that confirms that we are not all born equal”

Overall this is a fine piece of theatre from three very talented women involved in the writing, acting and direction of an honest and informative play that confirms that we are not all born equal and don’t all have the same opportunities in life.

Reviewed by Steve Sparrow

Photography by Craig Sugden

Killymuck

The Bunker until 13th April

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Mrs Dalloway

Arcola Theatre

Reviewed – 1st October 2018

★★★★

“a creative and sophisticated production”

This is a creative and sophisticated production on all fronts, well crafted and beautifully delivered.

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Ollie Grove

Mrs Dalloway

Arcola Theatre until 20th October

Previously reviewed at this venue: