Tag Archives: Lion and Unicorn Theatre

What’s the Story? – 3 Stars

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Story

What’s the Story?

Lion and Unicorn Theatre

Reviewed – 21st February 2018

★★★

“The four actors on stage project well and play their roles with obvious enjoyment and confidence”

 

The Festival of New London Irish Writing 2018 is showcasing a series of plays, songs and readings across various venues during February and March. One play that has already attracted media interest is from the Festival’s category ‘Against All Odds’. What’s the Story? pays tribute to two young Irish nurses who heroically saved the lives of seventeen of their patients when the Lewisham hospital ward where they worked was bombed by German aircraft during the Second World War.

Whilst their act of bravery and subsequent award of the George Medal was reported in the Daily Mirror in 1941, little else was known about Mary Fleming and Aileen Turner, so despite much research by writer Maureen Alcorn much of the play we see is ‘imagined’.

The audience is greeted by a very basic set. Over the following ninety minutes we not only learn more about the two nurses, but also about what it was like to live in wartime London and the attitudes of people living on the edge with the ever present threat of air raids. We are also reminded, through two of the male characters, about some of the horrible diseases that were prevalent in England at the time – TB and polio in particular.

The play honours the bravery of the many Irish women who chose to leave a country that had adopted a policy of neutrality, to come to England. For women, nursing was particularly attractive as it offered free training in the hospitals and wages were more generous than in Ireland. However London was a fairly dangerous place where looting and muggings were rife as thieves took advantage of the blackout and sparse police presence.

We meet Aileen (Lauren Cardiff), a young woman who on a cigarette break gets to know Bert (Alex Stevens) a trainee reporter struck down with polio. Bert has lost his brother in the battlefields of France and feels a failure that he was turned down when he tried to join up to serve his country. He of course eventually falls in love with Aileen and is the man responsible for writing the story of the women’s bravery. Aileen’s colleague, Mary (Jessica Kearney) crosses the professional line when she falls in love with TB sufferer Martin (Louis Rayneau). There follows some sub plots which introduce the characters of the Military Officer, the Policeman and the Doctor all also played by Rayneau.

The four actors on stage project well and play their roles with obvious enjoyment and confidence though Louis Rayneau does seem to struggle at times with some of the characters he portrays.

Alcorn should be congratulated for not only bringing to a greater audience the selfless acts of bravery by Fleming and Turner, but for creating a thought-provoking play with little factual material to work on. Her attendance for the performance and taking on a post show question time demonstrated her passion and commitment to bring this important story to life. Overall an enjoyable production highlighting the courage of those two nurses and giving an insight to life in those grim wartime conditions.

 

Reviewed by Steve Sparrow

 


What’s the Story?

Lion and Unicorn Theatre until 3rd March

Part of Against The Odds:
Festival Of New ‘London Irish’ Plays

 

 

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Breathe – 3.5 Stars

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Breathe

Breathe

Lion & Unicorn Theatre

Reviewed – 1st February 2018

★★★½

“a promising script with a capable cast”

 

Breathe, written and directed by Lucrezia Pollice, tells the story of Maria, an aspiring writer in her twenties, who spends her days working in a cafe and battling her mental health issues. The play takes place in the flat which Maria shares with her friends, Eddie and Rachel. There’s also Maria’s troubled friend, Sophie, who, to the annoyance of Eddie and Rachel, frequently crashes at the flat. The play centres around the relationships between Eddie, Rachel, and Maria, in particular how Eddie and Rachel deal with Maria’s depression, anxiety, and panic attacks.

The acting is good overall. Peter Silva (Eddie) and Olivia Valler-Feltham (Rachel) are convincing as the well-meaning, but exhausted housemates trying to help their self-destructive friend. Zoe Templeman-Young (Maria) gives an authentic performance as a young woman battling her demons. Tamzin Murray plays Maria’s brash and irritating friend, Sophie, and does an admirable job with this difficult character.

Unfortunately, the audience missed a great deal of the acting as it was often difficult to see the actors. Much of the action takes place on a sofa towards the front of the stage which, unless you are in the front row, is very difficult to see.

The best part about Breathe is the story. Stories about mental health often focus on the impact on families or partners – it is less common to see a story like this, one about the effect on housemates and friends. Unfortunately, the original concept is not enough to make this a strong script. The dialogue is, for the most part, natural and engaging, but there’s a lack of structure which makes it difficult to follow the story.

Another element which lets down the thought-provoking story is the lighting and sound. Many scenes are extremely short and almost all end with a jarring blackout. This, coupled with the use of projections, make the play feel more like a short film than a piece of theatre. That being said, there are instances where the projections work well and add to the story, but the style is inconsistent, which is distracting. As for the music, the songs chosen seem to have no clear connection to the story. Sometimes it seems as if the music is intended to show the passage of time, for example several Christmas songs are played towards the end, but no mention of Christmas is made by the characters.

Overall, this is a promising script with a capable cast; the structure and staging simply need more work to make it the play the story deserves.

 

Reviewed for thespyinthestalls.com

 


Breathe

Lion & Unicorn Theatre until 2nd February

 

 

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