Tag Archives: Phoebe Cole

I Would Like To Get To Know You
★★★

VAULT Festival

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I Would Like To Get To Know You

I Would Like To Get To Know You

The Vaults

Reviewed – 6 February 2019

★★★

 

“more entertaining and engaging than a lot of first dates”

 

The VAULT Festival is now in full swing entering its third week of presenting bold and brave shows. With Valentine’s Day looming, it’s currently all about lurve … Singletons, don’t worry, you won’t be made to feel ashamed or hideously reminded of the fact that you are drinking a bottle of wine, and demolishing a whole tub of Celebrations alone in your flat. I Would Like To Get To Know You, if anything, shows the difficulties and quite frankly, pain in the backside modern relationships can be. In a collaboration between Feral Foxy Ladies and Kaleido Film Collective, a cohesive mix of mediums and outside-the-box ideas help to make this delightful little show more entertaining and engaging than a lot of first dates.

Told in six parts, the evolution of the modern relationship is revealed. From its nucleus – matching on a dating app, to its inevitable extinction – the breakup. Audio clips of real-life interviews with people about their love lives (the good and the bad), make up the main bulk of the content, becoming the chief stimulus for the action that takes place on stage. Katherine Vince and George Cheetham create original songs, expressive dance routines, and comedic scenes around the audio, allowing a feast for all the senses.

Vince and Cheetham make a fun partnership. Vince may seem to wear the trousers in this relationship, dominating the stage with her kooky yet confident presence, however it is Cheetham, quietly in the background, generally providing the live music content, which is the integral puzzle piece in setting the tone and mood of the show.

The space is devoid of any set, however the area is filled with so many props, as well as the projector screen for the audio and visual portions of the performance that there’s enough busyness to take in. It’s cluttered, but this seems to well represent the inside of the millennial’s mind.

Although there are no revelations to be had from watching this performance, its strength lies in affirming how most of us twenty/thirty-somethings are all in the same boat: having the same awkward conversation starters on Tinder, remaining on dates with someone you know isn’t right for you within the first two minutes of meeting, looking for similar things in a potential life partner. It’s a lovely validation that so many of us are going through the same struggles. It brings the audience together. As do the collective laughs. Fun, flirty, and full of familiar embarrassing stories, it’s a match!

 

Reviewed by Phoebe Cole

Photography courtesy Feral Foxy Ladies & Kaleido Film Collective

 

Vault Festival 2019

I Would Like To Get To Know You

Part of VAULT Festival 2019

 

 

 

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Good Dog
★★★★

Watford Palace Theatre and UK Tour

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Good Dog

Good Dog

Watford Palace Theatre

Reviewed – 1st February 2019

★★★★

 

“Kwaku Mills gives a commendable spirited performance holding the audience in the palm of his hand”

 

A new production of Arinzé Kene’s hard-hitting yet delicate 2017 play, Good Dog, seems as relevant as ever. Although set in the Noughties and inspired by the 2011 London riots, the themes of frustration and social injustice still ring true. Told in an elongated monologue form, through the eyes of a fast growing teenage boy, a multi-cultural community is seen at breaking point. He witnesses the struggles with crime, poverty, addictions and infidelity that cripples his neighbours. With raging energy and surprising chuckle-out-loud observational humour, this powerful piece of storytelling shows what happens when all hope is lost and life is full of disappointment.

Kwaku Mills gives a commendable spirited performance holding the audience in the palm of his hand single-handedly for over two hours. He moves with dexterity through the different stages of the boy’s life. Transitioning from a naive and opportunistic young teen, to a hardened and disenchanted adult, who finds out the hard way that no good comes from being good in this world.

A large, black, wooden, slatted cube dominates the stage (set design Amelia Jane Hankin), representing such places as the balcony of the boy’s high rise home, the corner shop or train platform that makes up the bleak microcosm. Mills plays and interacts with the cube as if it is another character, becoming an integral partner in the story.

Helen Skiera’s sound design helps to flesh out the performance. The voices of the community the boy observes drips out through the speakers, painting a multi-cultural picture of a down-trodden forgotten pocket of the capital. It was unfortunate that some of this dialogue was missed due to the sound being far too quiet.

Arinzé Kene’s penetrating and quick-witted colloquial writing, feels authentic and tangible. It’s storytelling of the everyday man, for the everyday man. At times it can feel dense and borderline self-indulgent, yet this is a tale that holds an honest mirror up to the world, proving to be a vital piece of theatre. Telling a truth about London life that needs to be witnessed more on stage.

 

Reviewed by Phoebe Cole

Photography by Wasi Daniju

 

Watford Palace Theatre

Good Dog

Watford Palace Theatre until 2nd February then touring UK

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
Broken Glass | ★★★★ | March 2018

 

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