Tag Archives: Kimberley Jarvis

Bobby and Amy

★★★★★

Pleasance Courtyard

ReviewsAddison Waite, Bobby and Amy, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019, Emily Jenkins, Emma Blackman, Kimberley Jarvis, Pleasance Courtyard, Roshan Conn, Will Howardthespyinthestalls

Bobby and Amy

Pleasance Courtyard

Reviewed – 5th August 2019

★★★★★

“a transporting, beautiful, heartfelt reminder that strength and resilience can be found in unexpected places”

It’s the late nineties and Bobby and Amy are thirteen years old. She’s a social outcast, still grieving the death of her father. He’s on the autism spectrum, dodging bullies after school. As fellow misfits, they form a reluctant companionship which quickly grows into a deep, fiercely loyal friendship. The play follows Bobby and Amy on adventures around their small, working-class Cotswold town. In escape of unhappy home and school lives, they play in the old folly, roam the fields, and help Farmer Rodge with his cow herd. An outbreak of Foot-And-Mouth Disease puts their whole world at risk.

Written and directed by Emily Jenkins, Bobby and Amy is a transporting, beautiful, heartfelt reminder that strength and resilience can be found in unexpected places. Kimberly Jarvis (Amy) and Will Howard (Bobby) are outstanding. In addition to their portrayal of the titular characters, they shift in and out of a dozen others, bringing an entire town to life. You walk away having seen a largely populated story, full of nuanced personalities. Jarvis and Howard have made it easy, with just a bit of distance, to forget the show was a two-hander.

Jenkins effortlessly sweeps the audience out of Edinburgh to a rural Cotswold village. I can’t say I’ve experienced a richer, more vibrant setting, especially in a show with no set. Bobby and Amy is a black box production that uses no props or set design. Jenkins’ script does the heavy lifting in bringing us a tactile, almost cinematic experience of the world of the story. Golden fields, greasy fish and chips, the old folly, the live birth of a calf. Looking back, it’s almost a surprise remembering we didn’t actually see any of it.

Jenkins brings the late nineties back in full force as well: Tamagochi, choker necklaces, hand gesture rhymes (“loser, loser, double loser, whatever, as if, get the picture…”), and of course Foot-and-Mouth. The disease is never named in the play, which emphasises its senselessness and injustice. When the farms that employ nearly the entire town are shut down, when entire herds of cows (who have names) are shot and burned, there’s no explanation given; no reason said. The omission of the disease’s name also works to place us more firmly in the children’s world: their inability to fully comprehend the situation, and their powerlessness in the face of it. One day the fields are an idyllic playground; the next they’re on fire. Why? We don’t know (diseases just happen). It’s not fair.

Jenkins gives a poignant, perceptive, and loving depiction of a town hit by tragedy that’s forced to pull together, let go of the past, and change. This is a story of great depth and big heart. It will transport you to a nostalgic, vivid world you’ll want to linger in for a while longer.

Reviewed by Addison Waite

Bobby and Amy

Pleasance Courtyard until 26th August as part of Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019

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Review of Jamaica Inn – 5 Stars

ReviewsAnastasia Revi, Ben Jacobs, Daphne du Maurier, Helen Bang, Jamaica Inn, Jonathan Bratoëff, Kimberley Jarvis, Lisa Evans, Maira Vazeou, Peter Rae, Phoebe Hyder, Tabard Theatre, Toby Wynn-Daviesthespyinthestalls

Jamaica Inn

Tabard Theatre

Reviewed – 10th November 2017

★★★★★

“A faithful adaptation of the book executed with a boldness and flair all its own”

I was intrigued to see how a story carved from the expanse of the desolate Bodmin Moor and battered by wild wind and rain could be told in the intimate setting of the Tabard Theatre. The dim, misty lighting and Maira Vazeou’s set design – simple, yet containing the essential elements of the surrounding marshland and stark life – beautifully foreshadow this gothic tale by Daphne du Maurier. Set in the 1820s, it follows young Mary Yellan, recently orphaned, as she arrives at Jamaica Inn to stay with her aunt and uncle. Her headstrong nature embroils her in its sinister secrets and deceptions which she neither wants to discover, nor can resist.

Lisa Evans’ adaptation is impressively close to the novel, keeping much of the original dialogue and drama to maintain the suspense and balance. The small space is used to create a sense of claustrophobia and isolation, leaving the outside to rely more heavily on the imagination. The cast is excellent with an especially spell-binding performance from Helen Bang as Aunt Patience, while Anastasia Revi’s direction grips the attention from beginning to end through the ingenious use of props, movement, sound and character detail.

Kimberley Jarvis as Mary captivates the stage, often in tightly choreographed scenes which recreate the action and texture of the book and there is an effective interplay with her thoughts skilfully woven into the soundscape. The bullying figure of Uncle Joss, played by Toby Wynn-Davies, swings frighteningly from aggression to ominous charm, and Peter Rae portrays an intriguing Frances Davey, the local vicar.

On a technical level, the performance uses imaginative lighting (Ben Jacobs) and slick, original stage management. The sound design is a tour de force and the music, composed by Jonathan Bratoëff, enriches the work with both instrumental passages and songs, though occasionally this detracts from the harshness of the content. It is quite an achievement that only once does the space hinder the dramatic impact of the play, at the story’s denouement following a powerful build-up of tension. In addition, the short interaction between Mary and Mrs Bassat could have been a more engaging contrast to the surrounding urgency had Phoebe Hyder’s role been better defined.

Truly enjoyable and befitting the long, dark winter evenings, this production of Jamaica Inn blends fine acting with artistic allure and technical mastery. A faithful adaptation of the book executed with a boldness and flair all its own.

Reviewed by Joanna Hetherington

Photography by Panayis Chrysovergis

JAMAICA INN

is at the Tabard Theatre until 2nd December

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