Soho Theatre Archives - Page 23 of 36

★★★★★

“most definitely a comedy, but as is the case with most brilliant comedies, it is rooted in something more serious”

If you absolutely MUST share your most acute weaknesses, your most graphic desires, your most fragile self, all while dancing like nobody’s watching, with ninety-odd people watching, you best make it worth a roaring standing ovation. In what they describe as a “sweaty verbatim dance party” Mary Higgins and Ell Potter (collectively ‘Hotter’) have created a show that is simultaneously vulgar to the extreme and yet overwhelmingly joyous and – somehow – wholesome.

Jessica Edwards directs a frenzied revue of the female and/or feminine experience, as told through a patchwork of verbatim answers from various women and trans people. The subject matter covers sex, sexiness, masturbation, menstruation, love, dancing, vulnerability, and insecurity. Answers are mostly lip-synced by Higgins and Potter who skilfully embody the assorted characters, and as each segment picks up pace, the recorded answers are mixed and remixed to become a surprisingly vibey dance track for some serious dance moves. As the duo gets ‘hotter’, layers of faux fur are steadily removed to reveal sequins and shimmer fabric, which in turn are peeled off to reveal neon spandex and, later, bras and knickers.

The ridiculousness of the show is not lost on the performers. In fact, their ability to laugh at themselves is part of what makes it such a joy to watch. But the thread that brings it all together – the ecstatic and erotic with the heart-felt and heart-breaking – is the sense that a community has been called upon to create it. Whilst there is a strong autobiographical element, it’s really just one story among many being told, as is made clear throughout with Higgins and Potter consistently citing all the women who contributed.

‘Hotter’ is most definitely a comedy, but as is the case with most brilliant comedies, it is rooted in something more serious. Potter and Higgins seem as afraid as anyone to expose themselves, both figuratively and physically, to an audience of total strangers, but they’ve done it anyway, and to great effect.

Reviewed by Miriam Sallon

Photography by Sophia Burnell

Tumulus

Soho Theatre

Reviewed – 18th April 2019

★★★★

“it grips its audience immediately and has us on the edge of our seats”

It’s a Saturday night in April and Anthony is in a flat with eight or so other men that he doesn’t remember the names of. They have been going for eighteen hours – they’re high but not as high as they’ll be by the 36th hour or the 72nd. The twenty minute taxi ride to this flat was enough to start the sound in Anthony’s head, a sound that begins with ticking and then overwhelms. This is what he takes the drugs for to stop hearing. Also to feel his body moving from bone to cartilage. But tonight’s trip holds a surprise. The ghost of George, a young man and former flame of Anthony’s walks across his vision. His body was found the day before on the Tumulus, Hampstead Heath. The police said it was an overdose, that it isn’t even worth investigating. George, in ghost form, tells Anthony he has been murdered. George makes a deal with Anthony. Find my necklace and with it the killer, and I’ll stop the sound in your head. So our thriller begins.

The narrative, written by Christopher Adams, is funny at times, darkly awful at others. The thriller genre is a really original way to investigate the dark underside of the gay chemsex culture, and the dismissive police response to the death of young gay men in a society riddled with homophobia.

Ciaran Owens delivers a strong and convincing Anthony, playful and desperate and driven by something beyond his control. He is joined by Ian Hallard and Harry Lister Smith who create the many characters Anthony meets along his journey. Lister Smith embodies the young boys who go from lovers to victims, and Hallard competently alternates between cheery dog walkers, sinister villains and therapists, all ably directed by Matt Steinberg.

Both Hallard and Lister Smith, in their various guises, wear microphones that echo and distort their voices and lend them a disconcerting plurality. They create a soundscape of audio through objects held against microphones, reminiscent of a radio play made visible (sound design by Nick Manning). Set design (Alison Neighbour) is simple and effective, and Anthony paints the picture for us, making the table and cabinets chameleons in the space.

It isn’t a perfect production – there are moments that feel clumsy and unpolished – but it grips its audience immediately and has us on the edge of our seats, rooting for Anthony’s mission and, in turn, for George and the queer men, murdered but dismissed by the police, that he represents.

Soho Theatre

Reviewed – 1st May 2019

★★★★★

“most definitely a comedy, but as is the case with most brilliant comedies, it is rooted in something more serious”

Reviewed by Miriam Sallon

Photography by Sophia Burnell

Hotter

Soho Theatre until 15th June

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Soho Theatre

Reviewed – 18th April 2019

★★★★

“it grips its audience immediately and has us on the edge of our seats”

The narrative, written by Christopher Adams, is funny at times, darkly awful at others. The thriller genre is a really original way to investigate the dark underside of the gay chemsex culture, and the dismissive police response to the death of young gay men in a society riddled with homophobia.

It isn’t a perfect production – there are moments that feel clumsy and unpolished – but it grips its audience immediately and has us on the edge of our seats, rooting for Anthony’s mission and, in turn, for George and the queer men, murdered but dismissed by the police, that he represents.

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Darren Bell

Tumulus

Soho Theatre until 4th May

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: