Omnibus Theatre Archives - Page 4 of 14

Femme Fatale

Omnibus Theatre

Reviewed – 9th October 2019

★★

“ultimately, it felt like a surface creation, which failed to realise its deeper ambitions”

Andy Warhol’s 1967 erotic film ‘I, A Man’ shows the central male character in a series of sexual encounters with eight different women, including Valerie Solanas and Nico. Valerie was the founder of radical feminist organisation SCUM (the Society for Cutting Up Men) and later went on to attempt to assassinate Warhol, and Nico was the German model and singer famed for her high profile rock ‘n’ roll affairs, as well as for her work with Lou Reed’s Velvet Underground. On the surface, the two women couldn’t be more different: one a working-class butch lesbian from New Jersey, the other a leggy blonde heterosexual European, and yet, as Polly Wiseman’s play points out, they shared more than their surface would initially suggest. Wiseman’s play throws the two women together in an imagined green room situation during the filming of ‘I, A Man’ and uses it as a contemporary feminist call to arms. The final image of the piece is a projection of the question, ‘What do you want to change in the world for women?’, and we are invited to pin our thoughts to a noticeboard, or to tweet them, @SCUM2019.

It’s a great premise, and an admirable cause, and there is clearly an appetite for this kind of work. Hundreds of women were on their feet night after night hearing the clarion call from Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s Emilia, ‘‘If they try to burn you, may your fire be stronger than theirs SO YOU CAN BURN THE WHOLE F*CKING HOUSE DOWN’. Unfortunately, in this case, the touch paper just didn’t light. The play felt hampered by specificity; by the very particular accents required of the performers, and, too, by the notoriousness of the period. The obvious audience enjoyment of Wiseman’s impersonation of Nico’s infamous deadpan German drawl, added to the smattering of 60s rock icon name-checks – Brian Jones, Jim Morrison, Lou Reed – ultimately detracted from the piece’s political power. Similarly, much of the quickfire dialogue came across as glib and parodic. When Nico says, ‘Sunshine depresses me. There is too much expectation’, and Valerie voices the line, ‘Men’ll pay big to shoot the shit with a cunning linguist’, these broad brushstrokes limit them as women and take away from their humanity, which, in turn, makes it difficult for us to take them seriously. It also seemed a strange decision to characterise Valerie with such relentless cheerfulness. The women are different enough without this added extra thrown in. Another odd choice was the one to have Valerie mention her death by overdose. When Wiseman herself tells us – in Valerie’s potted biography printed in the script – that she died of pneumonia, what does this change do, other than falsely play into the already-problematic late-60s drug narrative that is touched on here?

The show was well designed – credit here to Sally Hardcastle (stage design) and particularly to Nathan Evans and Sophie Bailey for their excellent sound and video work – but ultimately, it felt like a surface creation, which failed to realise its deeper ambitions. Despite the cabaret moments, and the occasional use of direct address, Sophie Olivia’s Valerie and Polly Wiseman’s Nico never fully reached out and touched us from that stage, which is a shame, because, in reality, those women’s lives most definitely did.

Reviewed by Andrea Wright

Femme Fatale

Omnibus Theatre until 27th October

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Quietly | ★★★ | October 2018

To Have to Shoot Irishmen | ★★★★ | October 2018

The Selfish Giant | ★★★★ | December 2018

Hearing Things | ★★★★ | January 2019

The Orchestra | ★★★ | January 2019

Lipstick: A Fairy Tale Of Iran | ★★★ | February 2019

Tony’s Last Tape | ★★★★ | April 2019

Country Music | ★★★★ | May 2019

Othello: Remixed | ★★★★ | June 2019

Lone Star Diner | ★★★ | September 2019

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★★★

“an interesting and very watchable production”

Absorbing the styles and visions of modern American playwrights and screen writers, Cameron Corcoran conjures up a contained, remote world in ‘Lone Star Diner’, illustrating the shattered American Dream from different angles and with emphasis on what he considers the overlooked perspective of women. The plot is neatly constructed, twisting through the dialogue to reveal the reasons behind the characters’ behaviour, relationships and decisions. The overall effect, however, is not so much a feminist standpoint in a misogynistic world, as an impression of hardship, helplessness and acrimony in the USA, in which Corcoran is influenced by TV series and films. The personalities in the play are clearly drawn from these. However, in recreating rather than growing into their own roles, they can only go skin deep and are consequently hindered from interacting with complete conviction.

Director, Mike Cottrell, works hard to build up the tension from slow, low-key suspense to the unexpected burst of the outcome, though the balance before and after the interval is like a team getting a talking-to at half time and pulling their socks up. In the end, Billie Hamer, as June, gives a strong performance, showing desperate frustration from a past of trauma and disappointment, but at the beginning she needs the jaded fragility of her suffering to be apparent and make sense of her actions. Seamus Dillane struggles with his American accent, somewhat undermining the ruthless confidence of Cyrus. His opening scene with June is sometimes too hurried and clumsy for someone who is emotionally detached; instead of the calculated persuasion of his vulnerable victim which should arouse our suspicions and empathy, it comes across as a heated discussion. As the exploitative employee Larry, Adrian Walker-Reilly goes for the sinister undertones and expressive eyebrows of Jack Nicholson. Unfortunately, he never quite achieves the malevolence and, though tied to an underpaid job, it is hard to understand June’s true fear of him. Jack Sunderland brings relief as Billy Lee, the lawman. Verging on over-mannered at first, he offers some captivating moments as he uncovers the complexity and confusion of his feelings and sense of personal debt and duty.

The black and white floor tiles and metal furniture of the set (Natasha Shirley) immediately set the scene, with the encroaching sand of the surrounding desert reminding us of the diner’s isolation. Daniel Maxted’s lighting design creates dramatic and atmospheric qualities throughout the show and which intensify the cinematic approach. As a reflection on the fraud, greed and inhumanity that has resulted from the American Dream’s ethos of freedom to attain prosperity and success, ‘Lone Star Diner’ is an interesting and very watchable production. Yet the focus on female liberation becomes overshadowed by the many peripheral ideas, from an outsider’s eyes, wound into the story to enhance the cultural image. The poignancy of modern American theatre comes from the fact that American playwrights are simply writing about life.

Reviewed by Joanna Hetherington

Omnibus Theatre

Reviewed – 9th October 2019

★★

“ultimately, it felt like a surface creation, which failed to realise its deeper ambitions”

Reviewed by Andrea Wright

Femme Fatale

Omnibus Theatre until 27th October

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Omnibus Theatre

Reviewed – 5th September 2019

★★★

“an interesting and very watchable production”

Reviewed by Joanna Hetherington

Lone Star Diner

Omnibus Theatre until 7th September

Previously reviewed at this venue: