Tag Archives: Matthew Greenhough

It’ll Be Alt-Right On The Night

★★★★

Pleasance Theatre

Itll Be Alt Right On The Night

It’ll Be Alt-Right On The Night

Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed – 30th September 2019

★★★★

 

“As much as it humorously reflects on the past, this is very much a story for the now”

 

It’s about that time when the crème de la crème from this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe get invited to bring their show down for a London showcase. The Pleasance London venue is one such place. With a whole season of Ed Fringe triumphs coming up, Wound Up Theatre is one of the lucky few to perform again their effervescent show, It’ll Be Alt-Right On The Night. Like a pocket rocket, Matthew Greenhough moves through this (almost) one man show with velocity. With Northern charm and thought-provoking debate, this timely show is as urgent in its delivery as it is an essential illustration of today.

Greeny and Stevo have been faithful friends who’ve known each other for years. From their Sheffield school days in the late 90’s, to being angst-filled Punks living in squats and drinking nothing but Buckfast in the early 00’s. These lads have been side by side through many ups and downs. But the world has changed since those days. Hell, they’ve changed also. One’s moved to London and is a Liberal Lefty, with a cushy ‘media’ job, drinking £6 pints, whilst the other is stuck in their hometown and is downright angry at the world. As they meet up for the first time in a very long time, can they still find common ground, or will their political and social differences drive an ever-growing wedge further between them?

Greenhough is truly electric, completely wired for the 60 minute performance, hopping about the stage between the personas of Greeny and Stevo. In what appears to be a partly auto-biographical tale (Greenhough/Greeny? Too much of a coincidence?) the anecdotal nature of this non-chronological piece feels naturally told, as if coming from the top of Greenhough’s head in fragments. Although nothing really new or ground breaking is mentioned on the matter of the UK’s current fractious political divide, the beliefs of the far right and left are clearly depicted, but even these can sometimes border on the stereotypical. That being said, Stevo’s idea of ‘Conservatism is the new Punk Rock’, is certainly food for thought.

The eye-catching use of vinyl records on the floor and Steven Wright in the corner playing brilliant Jazz-Punk mash-ups on the trumpet between scene transitions, helps to reaffirm that music is the powerful bond between these two friends. However, even music struggles to finds its way as a unifier, as their ideological disparities prove to run deep.

As rough and ready as the performance feels, just like the astringent, unpolished Punk that the guys listen to, it all adds to this play’s appeal. It’s an intense experience to sit through, moving at a supersonic pace, but it hits the nail on the head on modern day life. As much as it humorously reflects on the past, this is very much a story for the now, with a serious message beneath.

 

Reviewed by Phoebe Cole

 


It’ll Be Alt-Right On The Night

Pleasance Theatre until 2nd October

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
One Duck Down | ★★★★★ | October 2018
The Archive of Educated Hearts | ★★★★ | October 2018
Call Me Vicky | ★★★ | February 2019
Neck Or Nothing | ★★★★ | April 2019
Night Of The Living Dead Live | ★★★ | April 2019
Don’t Look Away | ★★★½ | May 2019
Regen | ★★★ | May 2019
The Millennials | ★★½ | May 2019
Kill Climate Deniers | ★★★★ | June 2019
Midlife Cowboy | ★★★ | September 2019

 

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Bismillah! An ISIS Tragicomedy – 4 Stars

Tragicomedy

Bismillah! An ISIS Tragicomedy

Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed – 27th April 2018

★★★★

“carefully interweaves the light-hearted tension of the British North/South divide with global issues”

 

Following an incredibly successful run at this year’s Vault Festival, Bismillah! is a Wound Up Theatre production that was originally staged in 2015 and is now currently at Islington’s Pleasance Theatre. Whilst the political backdrop of the play is perhaps a little dated, its themes remain incredibly current and important.

The show, dubbed a ‘tragicomedy’, begins with a British soldier (Matthew Greenhough) who is imprisoned and tied to a pole, screaming out the lyrics to Queen’s I Want to Break Free. He is soon joined by his ISIS captor (Eliot Liburd) who he assumes doesn’t understand him. The captor speaks his first lines in a thick London accent, surprising the solider. They continue to converse, switching between seemingly futile topics comparing their upbringing ‘up North’ and ‘down South.’ This includes a hilarious argument about which fried chicken is better, KFC or Chicken Cottage? They bond over their shared experiences of working at J. D. Wetherspoon and their personal coming-of-age struggles. The audience, at moments, is starkly reminded of the context wherein the play is taking place when the conversation shifts towards the differences in Western and Eastern values.

The writing of Bismillah! carefully interweaves the light-hearted tension of the British North/South divide with global issues, linking it to the disenfranchising of young people within various communities. It cleverly brings a human side to a story and setting which is exclusively told through a sensationalist lens from mainstream media outlets.

It’s quite possible that many would deem such a topic “brave” to tackle onstage but displaying some of the ways in which people from particular societal groups are marginalised in British society shouldn’t be something theatre-makers and audiences alike shy away from. It proves a stark reminder to the National Youth Theatre’s 2015 production Homegrown, a play about the radicalisation of young people in the UK and was cancelled for reasons that remain unclear to this day. Bismillah! is a beautiful start to beginning the conversation in the most British of ways; comically and sarcastically with a serious undertone.

 

Reviewed by Claire Minnitt

Photography by Sofi Berenger

 

 


Bismillah! An ISIS Tragicomedy

Pleasance Theatre until 13th May

 

 

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