Tag Archives: Louise Templeton

PEOPLE, PLACES & THINGS

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Trafalgar Theatre

PEOPLE, PLACES & THINGS at the Trafalgar Theatre

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“a gripping performance that shoots up right into our bloodstream”

In Duncan Macmillan’s unsettling play, β€œPeople, Places and Things”, we are taken headlong into the mind of an addict in forensic detail. Without the need of a surgeon’s eye glass or scalpel we witness the outer layers being peeled back by the incisive dialogue, the razor-sharp acting. But also Jeremy Herrin’s staging which is inseparable from Bunny Christie’s set design that pulses throughout to the distorted and fractured rhythms of the protagonist’s identity. Identities even, whether they are true or false. We are never sure, and neither is she. How can you lie about who or what you are when you believe there is no truth to begin with?

β€˜She’ is Nina, drunkenly murdering Chekhov’s iconic dialogue. But then she is Emma, taking a line of cocaine before reluctantly checking into rehab. Then again, she might not even be Emma. One thing we are certain of, though, is the sheer, brutal brilliance of Denise Gough’s portrayal of this complex and compelling character. We cannot escape her, trapped as she is in Christie’s white tiled set with its hidden doors and camouflaged ventilation grids that allow little breathing space. It bursts into chaotic crashes of techno nightlife before melting back into the mundane sobriety of a rehab clinic. Everything is an extension of her mind, even the people.

 

 

A running gag is the fact that Emma’s therapist and doctor are the spitting image of her mother. SinΓ©ad Cusack gives a stunning performance in all three roles including the mother, highlighting the contrasts and the similarities of each character. The therapist’s β€˜cruel-to-be-kind’ approach offset by the mother’s bitter, beaten, and threadbare love for a daughter she thinks doesn’t deserve it. Similarly, Kevin McMonagle doubles as a crazed rehab patient, re-emerging as Emma’s father in Act Two. There is no moralising here. Just a bare dissection of grief in the wake of a dead son and brother.

The fall out of addiction is the core of the piece, and we see it through Emma’s eyes. Macmillan offers no judgement whatsoever as each aspect is picked apart. Gough takes us on an authentic journey through the milestones of denial, anger, anxiety, paranoia, truculence, withdrawal. A personality shattered into many shards, none of them trustworthy or trusting. Nightmares unfold before her eyes as Emma emerges in multiple forms, crawling from the walls, out of the bed, twitching and spinning around her until you can’t really tell which one is the real Emma. James Farncombe’s lighting plunges us into Emma’s drug-fuelled blackouts with a ferociousness matched by Tom Gibbons’ soundscape.

Mercifully there is hope. Malachi Kirby, as fellow user Mark, describes himself as a ’scream in search of a mouth’ but ends up working at the clinic as a volunteer. He has more than a second sight. All knowing, he helps pull the truth from Emma as she eventually tries to β€˜come clean’ – in all senses of the word. Not everybody is so lucky. We learn how profoundly difficult it is for the addict to avoid the people, places and things that can, at any time, trigger a relapse. The emotional confrontations are frighteningly true to life and at times devastating. Yet the miracle is that there is still plenty of room for humour, and the central theme of addiction steps back once in a while to let these multi-layered personalities fill the stage. There is a humanity in all the performances that transcends the subject matter. Yet it is always there, as a grim and palpitating pulse. And at its heart is Gough – in a gripping performance that shoots up right into our bloodstream. The play is truly addictive.

 


PEOPLE, PLACES & THINGS at the Trafalgar Theatre

Reviewed on 15th May 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Marc Brenner

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

JERSEY BOYS | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | August 2021

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Macbeth

Macbeth

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Temple Church

Macbeth

Macbeth

Temple ChurchΒ 

Reviewed – 22nd August 2019

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“there are several original touches that bring a freshness of interpretation to Antic Disposition’s take on the Scottish Play”

 

Macbeth is about many things, but it begins and ends with a battle. Antic Disposition has chosen a particularly appropriate, though challenging, setting for their latest production of one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies.The Temple Church is an ancient building, long connected with warriors, from the Templars of the Crusades who gave the church its name, to the veterans of both world wars. The long, narrow, bare boards stage, designed traverse style by John Risebero stretches the length of the central aisle, with lighting hung at either end. It is a powerful space, and the actors use it well, but from the audience’s perspective, it is problematic. Firstly, because observing the action is rather like being at a tennis match, where one’s head whips back and forth to follow the players, and secondly, because the church, like all churches of this period, was designed to echo. This works well for the polyphonic sacred music of the twelfth century, but for the interactions between Macbeth’s dramatic characters, in highly complex language, often exchanged in the heat of battle β€” not so much. It is a problem that this production never quite overcomes, despite the ingenious staging.

That said, there are several original touches that bring a freshness of interpretation to Antic Disposition’s take on the Scottish Play. For example, director Ben Horslen makes the witches an essential part of the whole show by using them as servants as well. This means they are nearly always present on stage in some capacity, and often working their magic while going about domestic tasks. This makes intuitive sense, and avoids the hackneyed stereotypes of grizzled old women sitting in isolation on blasted heaths. By contrast, the witches in this production (portrayed by Robyn Holdaway, Bryony Tebbutt and Louise Templeton) are active and versatile β€” a combination that adds to their importance in Macbeth’s story. Their continued presence emphasises their power, and adds significance to the way in which they catch the ambitious Thane of Glamis in their diabolical traps. The Victorian themed costume designs of Hanna Wilkinson make the witches nicely unobtrusive in their servant roles as well.

The leading roles are competently managed with stand out performances by Nathan Hamilton as Malcolm (also doubling as a Murderer) and Peter Collis as Banquo (also doubling as the Doctor). Harry Anton, as Macbeth, partly solves the problem of the echoing Temple Church by lowering his voice and speaking more slowly and with great clarity. This technique works to great advantage with the soliloquies. He is partnered by Helen Millar as Lady Macbeth, who does her best with the most challenging role in this play, but this is a somewhat hesitant performance that fails to connect with the ruthless force that must drive Macbeth to murder. The Victorian theme of the costumes works less well for the leading characters, in particular during the fight scenes. The choice of daggers rather than swords makes the final confrontation of Macbeth and Macduff, for example, a more muted affair. But by the final scenes, the deepening gloom of the evening skies outside the Temple Church add nicely to the flickering candlelight within the church. It is a fittingly crepuscular conclusion to Antic Disposition’s production of Macbeth.

 

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Scott Rylander

 


Macbeth

Temple Church until 7th September

 

Previously reviewed by Dominica Plummer:
Past Perfect | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Etcetera Theatre | July 2019
When It Happens | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Tristan Bates Theatre | July 2019
Agent 14 | β˜… | Upstairs at the Gatehouse | August 2019
Boris Rex | β˜…β˜… | Tristan Bates Theatre | August 2019
Great Expectations | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | The Geffrye Museum of the Home | August 2019
Horrible Histories: Barmy Britain Part Four | β˜…β˜…β˜… | Apollo Theatre | August 2019
Showtune | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Union Theatre | August 2019
The Time Of Our Lies | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Park Theatre | August 2019
Queen Of The Mist | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | Charing Cross Theatre | August 2019
Before I Am Lost | β˜…β˜… | Etcetera Theatre | August 2019

 

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