★★★★

“a powerful play that is sure to have you gripped from beginning to end”

As we enter Park Theatre’s smallest performance space, Park90, the eerie, sinister feel of Kate Barton’s play, Fast, is immediately made clear. Dimly lit and murky, the set genuinely looks like the setting of a horror film, decorated with leaves, branches, and ripped sheets on the ceiling, to name a few features.

Fast is based on the true story of Linda Hazzard, an American “doctor” who promoted fasting as a treatment and cure for illness at the turn of the 20th century. Hazzard is portrayed exceptionally by Caroline Lawrie, with her demeanour perfectly capturing a determined, albeit somewhat warped and disturbing woman. Lawrie has the ability to both charm and shock the audience in equal measure.

Natasha Cowley and Jordon Stevens play sisters Dora and Claire Williamson. The pair are enticed into being admitted to Hazzard’s sanatorium, believing her alternative methods will cure them of any ill-health they are experiencing. Near the beginning of the piece we learn of the relationship between the two sisters, with light-hearted banter taking place as they discuss their plans. The cast of four is completed by Daniel Norford, who plays Horace Cayton Jnr, a reporter intent on exposing Hazzard.

Once at the sanatorium, things quickly escalate for the Williamson sisters as they are subjected to Hazzard’s fasting treatments and their conditions take a turn for the worse. These sections of the play are particularly chilling and, at times, quite hard to watch.

Costume designer, Emily Bestow, who also designed the set, excels with her choice of clothing for the actors, which portrays the period very well. Sound design by David Chilton is also effective and helps with capturing the sinister nature of the story. Ben Bull’s lighting and projection design adds to this further and projections detailing dates and newspaper headlines remind us that we watching a play based on real events.

Kate Valentine has directed Fast in such a way that we feel as though we are sat in Hazzard’s sanatorium and witnessing these shocking events that occurred all those years ago. The acting from everyone involved, visual elements and sound all combine to create a powerful play that is sure to have you gripped from beginning to end.

Reviewed by Emily K Neal

Photography by Manuel Harlan

Anomaly

Old Red Lion Theatre

Reviewed – 10th January 2019

★★★★

“Warden has raised important questions for our social media obsessed world”

Liv Warden’s play Anomaly is described as: “An unsettling debut play, exploring sisterhood, reputation and loyalty.” Phillip Preston, a powerful man in the film industry, has been arrested for GBH, after assaulting his wife. But the play is not about him. The only characters are his three daughters Piper, Penny and Polly, played by Natasha Cowley, Katherine Samuelson and Alice Handoll respectively, and their struggle to deal with what has happened to their family, and to cope with the media fallout. Piper, the eldest, works in the family business and has to try to keep it intact during the scandal following her father’s arrest. Penny is an actor in LA, who is in demand on the chat show circuit, and who has, until now, benefitted from being Preston’s daughter. Polly is the youngest, and the most fragile, newly out of rehab, both a catalyst, and a victim of excessive media attention.

The three women do not often communicate directly with each other, giving a fractured feeling to the play, appropriate to their fractured worlds. They are a strong cast, and each convince in their roles. Alice Handoll’s Polly is engaging and moving as a rebellious but vulnerable young woman. She is the only one who is worried about their mother. Penny becomes more ‘human,’ and likeable as the story develops, but Piper does not follow the expected route. It’s a tribute to Natasha Cowley that I really didn’t like her character, despite her moments of emotion as revelations pile up.

Holly Ellis’ lighting design, sometimes, having the sister who is speaking lit, while the other two remain in the shadows, works well to portray the separate struggles of the women and the lack of any true ‘sisterhood’. The voices of unseen characters, such as a talk show host, a radio presenter and Piper and Penny’s spouses work to provide context and give the women a way of telling their story. But, of course, those stories are twisted and manipulated by the media. The sister’s distant and chilly relationships fit beautifully into Charlotte Dennis’ white, contemporary set. It is hyperstylised, with a slash of red, like a torn piece of a tabloid headline and just three white blocks that the sisters sit on. The sound design, by Fuzz Guthrie is also atmospheric and abstract.

Anomaly an unsettling play that leaves the audience questioning; why do we fixate on family tragedy and the pain of others, particularly the rich and famous. And why do we still blame women who perhaps don’t speak out, or who cannot accept the reality of the male brutality that they are confronted with. Your father is still your father, if he causes serious harm to your mother. How would that feel, how would we cope if it happened in our family? Warden has raised important questions for our social media obsessed world, and Adam Small’s direction keeps the stylised world of the play on point. This play packs a punch with its timely look at an issue that has been brought to the fore by scandals like the Weinstein affair.

Park Theatre

Reviewed – 16th October 2019

★★★★

“a powerful play that is sure to have you gripped from beginning to end”

Once at the sanatorium, things quickly escalate for the Williamson sisters as they are subjected to Hazzard’s fasting treatments and their conditions take a turn for the worse. These sections of the play are particularly chilling and, at times, quite hard to watch.

Reviewed by Emily K Neal

Photography by Manuel Harlan

Fast

Park Theatre until 9th November

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Old Red Lion Theatre

Reviewed – 10th January 2019

★★★★

“Warden has raised important questions for our social media obsessed world”

Reviewed by Katre

Photography by Headshot Tom

Anomaly

Old Red Lion Theatre until 2nd February

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: