Tag Archives: Omnibus Theatre

The Selfish Giant
★★★★

Omnibus Theatre

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The Selfish Giant

The Selfish Giant

Omnibus Theatre

Reviewed – 1st December 2018

★★★★

“a beautiful show that will appeal across generations”

 

This is a story I loved as a child and read over and over. In their first collaboration, Soap Soup Theatre and Tessa Bide Productions create a charming adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic tale. The Selfish Giant, Grint (Tomasin Cuthbert Menes), has a fantastic garden and whenever she is on holiday, children play amongst the flowers. But when she comes back to find traces of children across her garden – miniature footsteps and beginner gardening books – she banishes them all from her garden and builds the highest wall she can. But without the children, the garden begins to die and is replaced by an eternal winter. Unbeknownst to the giant, however, there is one child, Poppy (Tessa Bide) still trapped inside. So begins a story of friendship, that celebrates difference and kindness.

There are some very beautiful elements to the production. The garden, designed by Tomasin Cuthbert Menes, who also plays Grinter, is created by items of clothing: crinolines adorned with rhododendrons, a hat that becomes a mushroom, scarves that denote creepers. It’s a lovely idea but one that I wanted even more of to get a more vibrant sense of the stark change between summer and winter. The puppets are also stunning, wonderfully crafted, vivid and well-puppeteered. Tessa Bide’s Poppy is well delivered, endearing and curious, whilst Tomasin Cuthbert Menes is vibrant, full of wonderful sounds and facial expressions.

However, whilst this is a beautiful story, it isn’t a long one and the piece as a result lacks a sense of substance. Although the puppetry and mime are done beautifully, the script and its delivery currently feel a little lacking. This picks up towards the end but The Selfish Giant doesn’t have the necessary oomph to keep all its audience perpetually engaged. Despite these small faults, which should be easy to fix, this is a beautiful show that will appeal across generations.

 

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Paul Blakemore 

 


The Selfish Giant

Omnibus Theatre until 24th December

 

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:
Drag Me to Love | ★★★ | February 2018
The Soul of Wittgenstein | ★★★ | February 2018
Mortgage | ★★★★ | March 2018
My Dad the Magician | ★★★★ | March 2018
The North! The North! | ★★★ | March 2018
Gauhar Jaan – The Datia Incident | ★★★★ | April 2018
The Yellow Wallpaper | ★★★★ | June 2018
Blood Wedding | ★★★ | September 2018
Quietly | ★★★ | October 2018
To Have to Shoot Irishmen | ★★★★ | October 2018

 

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

 

Quietly – 3 Stars

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Quietly

Quietly

Omnibus Theatre

Reviewed – 12th October 2018

★★★

“This is a play that is made by the tension built by the actors on stage – unfortunately, this tension feels very manufactured and almost hollow”

 

Patriotism, religion and masculinity. These are up for dissection in Owen McCafferty’s ‘Quietly’. A pub in Northern Ireland – one like any other – is the scene of two gentlemen meeting. Their lives are separate, apart from one harrowing event in history. One that neither of them can change, but can they resolve and forgive?

The script is cutting and very raw. Raw in the sense that it presents very violent and disturbing images in a forward way, so that we as an audience cannot avoid the dark part of history he is trying to explore. Lighting (Amy Daniels) is understated but elegant, shifting purposefully with moments of the play throughout. The sound design (Rachael Murray) with the incorporation of sounds from technology and the brilliant use of voice-overs as a way of telling various parts of the story, is inspired.

Overall Matt Dunphy (Robert), Paul Lloyd (Jimmy) and Nick Danan (Ian) do a decent job in presenting the text to us in a lively sort of way. This is a play that is made by the tension built by the actors on stage – unfortunately, this tension feels very manufactured and almost hollow.

What hinders the play is the rushed pacing and the lack of silences. The actors seem almost too eager to get their lines in, which caused some running over each other and some stumbles. Ultimately, this ruined the lasting effect this show could’ve had. It would be better to let this show breathe a bit, let the tension build with a few more awkward silences (there is room for plenty) and for the actors trust what has been given to them.

Direction (James O’Donnell) is lacking. Two out of three lead performances felt very simple and one-dimensional. The one that does shine is that of Dunphy who is gifted with some wonderful humour through his track. He delivers in the moments he is utilised and it’s a shame that he isn’t used more.

I’m not saying that ‘Quietly’ is a bad show, but it’s not a good show either. It is distinctly average but has the potential to be great. With a few tweaks here and there, this could be a strong piece that really packs a punch. I hope that one day it does reach its potential because the material deserves it, the story deserves it.

 

Reviewed by Shaun Dicks

Photography by Stephanie Claire

 


Quietly

Omnibus Theatre until 27th October as part of the Irish Season

 

Also reviewed from the Irish Season:
To Have to Shoot Irishmen | ★★★★ | October 2018

 

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