Rosie Snell Archives - thespyinthestalls.com

★★★½

“an engaging and enjoyable show”

Gobby: Tending to talk too loudly and in a blunt or opinionated way.

Bri has always talked too much and too loudly. She’s been nicknamed ‘Gobby’ for as long as she can remember. But at some point, she stopped letting it out and instead, kept it in. Writer and performer, Jodie Irvine, brings her own wit and style to broach the rarely-voiced subject of gaslighting and its psychologically depletive consequences. The stage festooned with bunting, balloons and paper cups, Bri invites us to join her on a tour of five parties over two years which mark her healing journey from the repercussions of a toxic relationship.

Imaginatively and resourcefully, with just a handful of accents and plenty of party paraphernalia, Irvine conjures up a colourful cast of friends and acquaintances and some original accessories – a fun hat cocktail shaker, talking balloon heads, a party blower moustache and poppers which not only serve to vent anger but also punctuate the five part(ie)s of her story. She creates an assortment of wonderfully vivid roles including posh ex-flatmate Anna, drunk party girl, uncaring crush Matt and new best friend Beth (hard not to visualise Gavin and Stacey’s Nessa there). The use of music and lighting – clearly a given at parties – adds shape to the narrative while doing some creative underlining of mood.

The show touches on several topics which are often hard to discuss. Why do we need to be noticed, accepted or care what people think of us? Why can’t we be happy as we are?
Bri seems to mourn her ‘loud’ assertiveness which has been undermined by her previous boyfriend; no one close to her realised and she lost the confidence to speak out and ask for help. So how did she have the strength to leave? That would be interesting to develop. She addresses the effects of emotional abuse and Bri’s recovery but how she became submissive is left mainly to our imagination. And although the discovery of ‘self-awareness’ is Bri’s lightbulb moment, her speech about blame and gratitude is a deeper, more involved view with a thoughtful and positive conclusion. It goes without saying that it is beneficial to start any conversation which can throw a lifeline of recognition and understanding.

Irvine’s writing encompasses the awkward and painful reality of all types of relationships with anecdotal humour. Her honest and naturally comic acting combined with Rosie Snell’s meticulous direction produces an engaging and enjoyable show even though, when it digs into the darker areas, the message becomes blurred.

Reviewed by Joanna Hetherington

Moth Hunting

Cockpit Theatre

Reviewed – 26th September 2019

★★★★

“this is an excellent play … performed by three actresses at the top of their game”

It is sometimes difficult to be inspired when you check out theatre listings and find the same old plays. So the promise of a brand new comedy was enough to put a spring in my step as I made my way to The Cockpit theatre.

This is the story of a mother and her two daughters who occasionally go on outings together. They had previously had a spa day, been paintballing and this time, daughter Ann had planned a trip moth hunting in Macclesfield forest. This came as a surprise to her sister Susan, who when she heard they were roughing it, thought that meant an evening at Wetherspoon’s. The forest visit had a little bit of moth hunting, plenty of trivial sibling rivalry, a few revelations falling out of the closet and a nasty injury which resulted in both division and reconciliation.

The set (Greg Spong) was a cleverly projected dense wood image with plenty of dead leaves littered around the stage. The props including a bright blanket, moth catching kit and a variety of bags were pretty much perfect. Sound and lighting were fairly minimal and yet bang on point when required.

This was a perfectly cast play. I absolutely bought the three ladies as a family unit, comfortable in each others company, always willing to tease and yet their love for each other always shining through at times of crisis. Charlotte Baker (Ann) was the most straight-laced of the sisters, her insecurities were nicely observed and the random dance that she performed to ‘Waterloo’ with her sister was a delight. Kathryn McGarr (Susan) had the best of the laughs, her inappropriate clothing and high heels I felt could have been even more outrageous, but her comedy skills were expertly showcased and she at one point, sported the most impressive leg wound that I’ve seen for a long time. Verity Richards (Gill) was just lovely, she didn’t really care what was going on around her, she just loved being with her girls, her comic timing was a real highlight for me. Gareth Turkington (Sid) made up the cast playing Susan’s partner. Trying to get angry with her, he clearly didn’t have a nasty bone in his body and gave a smashing, comedic performance. The director (Rosie Snell) made good use of the space and kept everything moving along at a good pace.

This piece started life as a ten minute sketch at a new writing night and playwright Phil Ball has developed it into a full play. It is consistently funny, favourite scenes for me being Ann’s story about missing her father’s funeral, the plant watering episode and a short scene with an Uber-Eats driver that was just brilliant.

A few cues were missed early on resulting in some laughs being lost and the audience laughter also drowned out some text here and there. But this is an excellent play, much of the script able to be appreciated by a younger audience and performed by three actresses at the top of their game. Lovely to see such an amusing new comedy hitting the theatre, not only that, I learnt plenty of interesting facts about moths into the bargain.

Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed – 1st December 2019

★★★½

“an engaging and enjoyable show”

Gobby: Tending to talk too loudly and in a blunt or opinionated way.

Reviewed by Joanna Hetherington

Gobby

Pleasance Theatre

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Cockpit Theatre

Reviewed – 26th September 2019

★★★★

“this is an excellent play … performed by three actresses at the top of their game”

It is sometimes difficult to be inspired when you check out theatre listings and find the same old plays. So the promise of a brand new comedy was enough to put a spring in my step as I made my way to The Cockpit theatre.

The set (Greg Spong) was a cleverly projected dense wood image with plenty of dead leaves littered around the stage. The props including a bright blanket, moth catching kit and a variety of bags were pretty much perfect. Sound and lighting were fairly minimal and yet bang on point when required.

Reviewed by Chris White

Photography by Rosie Snell

Moth Hunting

Cockpit Theatre until 28th September

Previously reviewed at this venue: