Tag Archives: Jonathan Evans

MADWOMEN OF THE WEST

★★

Riverside Studios

Reviews, , , , , , , , ,

MADWOMEN OF THE WEST at the Riverside Studios

★★

“Like the piñata that hangs above the stage throughout but is never used, the full force of the show never strikes its target”

I feel sorry for the Uber driver. Midway through Sandra Tsing Loh’s American import comedy “Madwomen of the West”, Claudia (Melanie Mayron) wants out. “No, not Highgate” she drawls into her phone. “Where are we?” she asks the audience. “Hammersmith”. But when the driver is three minutes away, she decides to stay, but fails to cancel the ride. The conversation – and the driver – are instantly forgotten. Claudia is at her friend’s house, in her pyjamas for some reason. Her friend is Jules (Brooke Adams) who initially conceals her torment and vodka in a water bottle. Also present is Marilyn (Caroline Aaron), busily putting up and taking down invisible party decorations. Latecomer Zoey (Marilu Henner) breezes into view like Catwoman, crashing the stage with the promise of ruffling feathers that are already dishevelled.

There is plenty of blurring of the lines in this play, which at times doesn’t feel like a play at all. There is no fourth wall, but when we are spoken to (or at) we are never sure whether it is the character or the actress. Presumably when the show initially ran in Los Angeles and New York last year, the audiences would have a better grasp, but from this side of the pond it is hard to tell.

The four performers have got together to put on a show about four women of a certain age who have got together for a surprise birthday party. They have known each other since their college days, which definitely shows in the camaraderie and the rivalry. The performances are wonderfully natural, but just as we are relaxing into their plush sofas and reminiscences, we are jolted out again by abrupt theatrical devices. The joke wears thin as the (fictitious) lack of budget, set, props and tech crew are repeatedly referred to. Where it fares best is the tweaking of the script for the English audience, acknowledging and respecting the differences in the humour while simultaneously making fun of us.

It not only makes fun of our culture, but also their own, and the fact that they cannot keep up. They don’t even want to keep up and these strong, successful women have earned the right not to try. The writing is sometimes unashamed as they tackle the topics of today. ‘Trans… it’s the new bulimia…’ The conversation and the drink flow freely as the women grapple with their own issues as well as the world’s. Divorce and disappointment, menopause and marriage, career and child-rearing, expectations and sexploitation. Many points raised are tried and tested but a few jump out like refreshing splashes of political incorrectness. Little seems to be out of bounds. Director Racky Plews must have had her work cut out, yet she has maintained a tight hold on proceedings while still making it look as though the performers are calling all the shots.

Some monologues, while informative and sympathy grabbing, linger too long and some clashing viewpoints seem contrived. But the chemistry between these performers is reassuring. We sometimes feel we are watching an Americanised episode of ‘Loose Women’ until we realise that, if we were, we wouldn’t even make it to the first commercial break before our ‘cancel culture’ would have everyone fired.

Yet for all the promise of acidity and caustic comedy, “Madwomen of the West” treads tentatively, unsure of the response, which kind of misses the point. If it appeared to care less, we would probably care more. Like the piñata that hangs above the stage throughout but is never used, the full force of the show never strikes its target. So the real treats – the reward for persevering – are never released. Instead we are guided to a rather sugary ‘let’s-be-friends’ finale. I wonder if the Uber is still waiting outside.


MADWOMEN OF THE WEST at the Riverside Studios

Reviewed on 5th August 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Ryan Howard

 

 


 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

MOFFIE | ★★★ | June 2024
KING LEAR | ★★★★ | May 2024
THIS IS MEMORIAL DEVICE | ★★★★ | April 2024
ARTIFICIALLY YOURS | ★★★ | April 2024
ALAN TURING – A MUSICAL BIOGRAPHY | ★★ | January 2024
ULSTER AMERICAN | ★★★★★ | December 2023
OTHELLO | ★★★★ | October 2023
FLOWERS FOR MRS HARRIS | ★★★★ | October 2023
RUN TO THE NUNS – THE MUSICAL | ★★★★ | July 2023
THE SUN WILL RISE | ★★★ | July 2023
TARANTINO LIVE: FOX FORCE FIVE & THE TYRANNY OF EVIL MEN | ★★★★★ | June 2023
KILLING THE CAT | ★★ | March 2023

MADWOMEN OF THE WEST

MADWOMEN OF THE WEST

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

 

🎭 A TOP SHOW IN JULY 2024 🎭

DEATH OF ENGLAND: DELROY

★★★★★

@SohoPlace

Reviews, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

DEATH OF ENGLAND: DELROY at @SohoPlace

★★★★★

“Essiedu’s performance is beyond compare as he tears up the rule book as well as the flag”

There is no particular order to “Death of England”, the trilogy of plays by Clint Dyer and Roy Williams. They are intricately linked to each other but can be seen as standalone plays in their own right as well. Chronologically “Death of England: Delroy” takes place after “Death of England: Michael”, and there are some loaded references to its precedent, but the satisfaction reaped from either wouldn’t be diminished by watching just one or the other. I can’t say this for sure, though, with only a couple of hours interval between witnessing both (we have to wait a few weeks, however, before tackling the third section: “Death of England: Closing Time”).

The same red cross dominates the playing space, this time scrawled with handwritten phrases to which Delroy adds during his monologue, only to tear up later along with fragments of the cross’s fabric. The symbolism is direct, but everything else over the next hour-and-three-quarters is as contorted as you can get. Delroy is trying to make sense of the world he finds himself in. His scribblings on the floor are like emotional equations that even his sharp and eloquent mind cannot solve.

We first meet Delroy (Paapa Essiedu) as he is having an electronic tag attached to his ankle. Essiedu then takes us on the journey of how Delroy reached this point with a mix of beautifully precise insights, immaculately delivered comedy, self-deprecation, candour and fury. He pleads injustice but never once becomes a victim. There is no such thing as innocence or guilt in Delroy’s world; there are too many shades to people – and being British does not make you exempt, whatever your colour. That is the beauty of the writing, and Essiedu’s performance is beyond compare as he tears up the rule book as well as the flag.

Delroy’s partner is expecting his first child and, while on a shift at his dubious day job as a bailiff, he gets the call that she has gone into labour. She is Carly – the sister to his childhood friend Michael. During his rush to the hospital, chance encounters, misunderstandings, preconceptions and inopportune clashes lead to him being arrested. Howls of laughter greet Essiedu’s retelling, which give way to jaw-dropping home truths. Co-writer Clint Dyer also directs all three plays, continually breaking the fourth wall, more so in “Delroy” than in “Michael”, allowing Essiedu to engage members of the audience with flourishes of improvisation that never wander out of character. Like Thomas Coombes, he also brings the peripheral characters to vivid life with impersonations that ring out with hilarious and venomous accuracy. Nobody escapes his acerbic impressions – police officers, judges; his girlfriend and mother (I can’t wait to meet them in the flesh in “Closing Time”); and also Michael (who we have previously met).

Leitmotifs of Benjamin Grant’s and Pete Malkin’s disturbingly atmospheric sound design migrate from the first play to the second, highlighting the parallels between the two shows. But we all know that parallel lines, while having much in common, never meet. The morality may be similar, but Delroy takes the narrative in different directions rather than just looking at it from another angle. And having seen both shows in quick succession we get a real sense of the depth of experience Michael and Delroy have shared, even though we have never seen them together, which is testament to the two actors’ performances. You don’t need to see both to appreciate this, but I’d recommend it without a shadow of a doubt. Plays like “Death of England” are what keep English theatre well and truly alive. This show beats in the heart of the West End like the vital organ that it is.


DEATH OF ENGLAND: DELROY at @SohoPlace

Reviewed on 30th July 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Helen Murray

 

 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE LITTLE BIG THINGS | ★★★★ | September 2023
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN | ★★★★★ | May 2023

DEATH OF ENGLAND: DELROY

DEATH OF ENGLAND: DELROY

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page