Tag Archives: Lion and Unicorn Theatre

Hummingbird – 3 Stars

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Hummingbird

Hummingbird

Lion & Unicorn Theatre

Reviewed – 10th August 2018

★★★

“It felt more like a first draft or preview for an idea which has potential but needs more delicate and thoughtful attention to be brought off“

 

Hummingbird, presented at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre as part of this year’s Camden Fringe, left me wanting to have been shown more and told less. It is set in an alternate present in which social media vloggers, known as “Hummingbirds” are paid by governments and corporations to influence how and where the populace choose to place their attention. They are both influencers of the societal narrative and at the bidding of masters higher up the chain of command.

As it becomes clear that this future is slightly strange, the story’s premise feels a little unnecessary and forced. Hummingbirds surely exist already, although we don’t call them that – rather “Instagrammers”. The show uses the idea as a way to explore aspects of our attention, compassion and capacity for action as a society: if we are always being redirected to trivial or human interest stories, how can we see the bigger picture? What is more important?

Questions like this are the backbone of Hummingbird’s sixty minutes, and for the most part they play out engagingly enough as we follow the characters of Owen, an easy-going and un-self-aware “Hummingbird”, and his girlfriend Emma, a conscientious environmentalist, activist, vegan, charity worker and all-round good person. The sweet relationship between the two is believably explored in brief vignettes, as their differing ways of looking at the world tease out the questions posed above.

The bare black-box stage is sparse apart from a few chairs and a white sheet, used for a slightly out-of-place physical sequence in the opening moments of the play, which I felt would have been more fitting at the end of the piece.

The show is at its strongest when snappily moving between short scenes which build upon one another. A brief suction-like sound smooths the transitions, and the lighting is similarly simple. Owen’s video camera is nicely used as a bridge between the performers and the audience, although it would have been advantageous to see more imaginative use of props, especially some more technology, given how this features in the piece.

The acting is strong and often subtle, with twin leads Owen and Emma both enduring trials which cause them to re-examine what they thought they knew about the world. My biggest problem was that the script was on-the-nose in the extreme toward the conclusion, as well as engaging in some strange dystopian tropes that seemed jarringly out of place with what had gone before.

If more care had been taken in communicating the show’s themes, as well as in making more use of the resources in staging, the show would have been far stronger; rather, it felt more like a first draft or preview for an idea which has potential but needs more delicate and thoughtful attention to be brought off.

Reviewed by Gus Mitchell

 

Pigeon

Hummingbird

Lion & Unicorn Theatre until 12th August

as part of The Camden Fringe Festival 2018

 

 

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

 

 

In the Wake of – 3 Stars

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Wake

In the Wake of

Lion & Unicorn Theatre

Reviewed – 4th August 2018

★★★

“Morris’ emotionally charged delivery of a monologue in the final scene proved to be a highlight of the entire production”

 

Set on a council estate in Hull, In the Wake Of is a new piece of writing by Michael Black, who also appears in the production. Black plays Jimmy, who has recently been released from prison and turns up at the house of a friend, Rob (Mickey Mason), and his girlfriend, Chelsea (Rachel Morris). It’s not long before we learn of dark secrets when past events rear their ugly head and relationships are threatened.

The acoustics of the Lion and Unicorn Theatre worked well with the production, making it almost feel as though we were in the room with the characters. This did sometimes mean that outbursts and confrontations were a bit harsh to the ears, but overall it could be said that it added to the gritty nature of the play.

Confrontational scenes were generally well played and directed (Matt Strachan), but it was sometimes a case of the energy then dropping and the pace lagging, before the next outburst. In some of these scenes, actors also occasionally had their backs to the audience, which meant we missed some of the emotion delivered by them.

All actors displayed a good level of commitment to their characters, but Rachel Morris as Chelsea stood out, particularly during the final scenes. She presented great raw emotion and was believable as someone caught up in other people’s dramas, culminating in her character doing something to create drama of her own. Morris’ emotionally charged delivery of a monologue in the final scene proved to be a highlight of the entire production.

In the Wake Of is not a play to see if you want a relaxed evening, but it’s certainly a realistic and powerful display of human emotion and the impact past events can have when they resurface.

 

Reviewed by Emily K Neal

Photography courtesy Faded Ink Productions

 

Pigeon

In the Wake of

Lion & Unicorn Theatre until 7th August

as part of The Camden Fringe Festival 2018

 

 

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