A Level Playing Field

Riverside Studios

Reviewed – 2nd February 2022

★★★★

“There is a shared passion that comes across from the young co-operative, and a generosity that allows each cast member to shine”

“A Level Playing Field”, which began its life at the Jermyn Street Theatre in 2015, explores the darker side of education. How, over time, it has become a commodity. Learning for learning’s sake is no longer valid. Schools are a business and, in their desperate pursuit to hold onto their position in the league tables, curiosity and individuality is stamped out. The pupils groomed in exam techniques with the teachers’ careers riding on the outcome. Bold yet familiar undercurrents to base such a play upon, and there is the danger that such a polemic might drag the narrative down. Instead, though, Jonathan Guy Lewis’ writing sweeps the audience along with a mix of insight, humour, and first-hand knowledge.

Lewis was originally inspired by listening to his son’s experiences of A Levels and the pressure that he was under, and the obsession with grades and testing. One small snapshot in time (an hour or two in the examination room) was somehow going to define his whole education and perhaps shape his whole future. The concept felt very wrong. “A Level Playing Field”, part of a trilogy, serves to showcase his disillusionment in the current system, and the damaging effects it could have on young minds. But the skill with which he crafts the dialogue packs the piece with positivity rather than makes it a slamming tale of doom. This positivity is clearly grasped by the fifteen strong company – all Drama Studio graduates – who have basically run away with the project to make it their own. Having performed it as their graduate production last July they formed their own company – Neck & Neck Theatre – to take it further and give the show a wider audience.

This is a rehearsed reading as part of the Riverside Studio’s ‘Bitesize Festival’. We are asked to imagine the set and props; stage directions are read out and the actors are on the book. Yet the performances are such that these potential impediments are removed from the outset. We are drawn into their world – the music room of a high-end grammar school in which the pupils are confined in ‘isolation’ before their next exam. Without access to phones and laptops to prevent them gaining any unfair advantage during a clash in the exam timetable, the locked-in pupils browbeat, brag, tease, torment and flirt. Resentments are revealed, but as the layers of bravado, incipient self-awareness and rancour continue to be torn away, deeper scandals are uncovered; and the damage is laid bare.

There are parallels that can be made to society as a whole, and deeper questions are asked. Yet the overriding sense of the evening stems from the sheer entertainment value of the piece. The script is cram-full of humour, and the authenticity of the language belies the generational divide between writer and performers. There is a shared passion that comes across from the young co-operative, and a generosity that allows each cast member to shine. In addition to the flowing narrative, each character is given a moment in the spotlight to give a brief soliloquy. Self-deprecation is the key to get us on their side. And we root for these fragile personalities. Yes, they intimidate each other, but rally round when it truly matters.

The harm caused to curious minds by institutionalised education is a topic that deserves wider debate, just as “A Level Playing Field” is a show that merits a wider audience now. This reading of it gives more than a taste of what it should be (and has been) and hopefully we can look forward to a full staging. Part ‘The History Boys’, part ‘Lord of the Flies’, “A Level Playing Field” is passionate, provoking and playful.

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

A Level Playing Field

Riverside Studios as part of Bitesize Festival

Shows reviewed by Jonathan this year:

Freud’s Last Session | ★★★★ | King’s Head Theatre | January 2022

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