Tag Archives: Joseph Prestwich

Why the Child is Cooking in the Polenta
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Gate Theatre

Why the Child is Cooking in the Polenta

Why the Child is Cooking in the Polenta

Gate Theatre

Reviewed – 1st May 2019

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“A promising beginning introduces the idea of shadow puppetry that is sadly abandoned as quickly as it comes”

 

Based on the Romanian novel β€˜Why the Child Is Cooking In The Polenta’ by Aglaja Veteranyi, this tantalisingly titled one-person show has an intriguing story of migration and cultural difference hidden somewhere within it, but writer, actor and producer Edith Alibec doesn’t quite manage to unveil it fully to the audience, leaving them instead with a laborious and slightly tedious hour-or-so of theatre.

Witnessed through the eyes of a child, a nomadic Romanian family leaves their circus tents and trailers behind for a life in Germany. With a mother who β€œhangs by her hair” and a violent father, our narrator finds refuge in wild flights of imaginative fancy. Fleeing the Communist regime in Romania, the little girl/narrator struggles learning German in the classroom but is resolute to show her teachers she is more than just a teary-eyed foreigner. It’s only through being so far from home however, that the girl truly understands what β€˜home’ means.

Vincent Kling has produced a flowing and magically realistic English translation of Alibec’s script that doesn’t shy away from using Romanian and German words and phrases to good effect. Romanian speakers in the audience certainly had the last laugh, finding comedy in cultural references that flew a little over my English-and-German-speaking head. Alibec is also not a bad performer, a container of boundless energy and childlike exuberance who convinces as much as a modest adult as she does an emotional and ecstatic child. Dana Paraschiv’s direction leaves the stage almost empty aside from certain food-based props, clothes and a handy footstool whose purpose constantly changes. A promising beginning introduces the idea of shadow puppetry that is sadly abandoned as quickly as it comes.

Being such a short show, alarm bells ring when audience members begin to leave way before it’s done. Alibec is a charismatic performer but fails to create a meaningful or empathetic main character. The storytelling is woefully unclear, allowing childlike rambling to supersede much-needed narration. This would work wonderfully if the childhood memories were engaging or entertaining in their own right – but they simply aren’t.

Despite its credible performance, β€˜Why the Child…’ presents a vague and (frankly) quite boring narrative that fails to grapple satisfactorily with some compelling questions about nationality and cultural heritage. I’d advise staying home and eating polenta instead.

 

Reviewed by Joseph Prestwich

Photography by Ayse Yavas

 


Why the Child is Cooking in the Polenta

Gate Theatre until 4th May

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
Dear Elizabeth | β˜…β˜… | January 2019

 

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

 

Swimming

Swimming
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White Bear Theatre

Swimming

Swimming

White Bear Theatre

Reviewed – 30th April 2019

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“Bower’s script, and indeed the show as a whole, are already in a pretty strong and exciting place”

 

Swimming is a common trope in the telling of gay stories. Think the Hampstead Men’s Pond in Alan Hollinghurst’s “The Line of Beauty”, David Hockney’s “Peter Getting Out of Nick’s Pool (1966)” and the pool-side antics in coming-of-age films from “Call Me By Your Name” to “Y Tu MamΓ‘ TambiΓ©n”. Alex Bower’s memorable new play draws on this rich cultural heritage to create a gripping and probing hour of drama.

Dan (Andrew Hawley) has just said so long to girlfriend of three years Marianne (Harriet Green) and the two are fairly irreconcilable. She moves in with Dan’s best friend and trusty furniture-builder Ant (Jack Helsby) whilst Dan rekindles a long-forgotten desire for the male sex and starts dating Sam (Patrick Cavendish). Struggling with years of keeping in the closet, Dan begins to construct a new identity for himself – one free of the friends and girlfriends that have pigeon-holed him his whole life.

This run is described as an opportunity to “get the show on its feet” with intentions to develop it further, but Bower’s script, and indeed the show as a whole, are already in a pretty strong and exciting place. Bower has created four rich and detailed characters, and he asks some intriguing questions about how we approach the spectrum of sexuality. When Ant stumbles across Sam and Dan at the lido, Bower captures well the awkwardness of two sides of a personality colliding. Dan’s been straight his whole life, how can he suddenly decide he’s gay?

With just four stools and some neat shifts in lighting, Rebecca Loudon’s direction is reminiscent of Jamie Lloyd’s current work at the Harold Pinter Theatre. Minimal and sparse, the relationships between characters are crucial. Luckily Loudon has a excellent ensemble working together effortlessly.

Moving forward, work could be done to make these characters more like people with histories than mere “types”. Ant in particular feels well rounded and detailed, but Green and Cavendish are given a little less meat to chew on. I’m left contemplating the meaning of that title too. That aside, this is a promising new piece of work that ought to be seen even at this early stage of development.

 

Reviewed by Joseph Prestwich

Photography by Alex Brenner

 


Swimming

White Bear Theatre until 4th May

 

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:
The Lady With a Dog | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | February 2018
Northanger Avenue | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | March 2018
Grimm’s Fairy Tales | β˜…β˜… | April 2018
Lovebites | β˜…β˜…β˜… | April 2018
The Old Room | β˜…β˜… | April 2018
The Unnatural Tragedy | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | July 2018
Eros | β˜…β˜… | August 2018
Schrodinger’s Dog | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | November 2018
Franz Kafka – Apparatus | β˜…β˜…β˜… | January 2019
The Project | β˜…β˜…β˜… | March 2019

 

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