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The Dip

The Space

Reviewed – 1st February 2019

★★★

“It’s hard to resist the fun clearly being had here, but there is perhaps a risk of too much fun at the expense of structure and ultimately purpose”

Looking for a quiet night? This raucous performance from an ensemble of impossibly young talents won’t be what you might have in mind – but the psychedelic charms of The Dip are near irresistible.

The narrative, such as it is, is a trippy look at a night of sexual awakening. But plot is secondary here. The music is standout, with cast members seamlessly instrument-swapping (and, on the night I visited, Sophie Hammer on bass keeping a cool head when the sound tech wouldn’t play ball).

The sweetly amusing ‘kiss’ character at the start (Iulia Isar, who is consistently strong) is an indication of the playful surrealism that lies ahead. The night brings us a life-sized fish, aubergine-brandishing police and not one but two naked behinds. But anarchic comedy works best when we’re given shades of light and dark, and moments without frenzied physicality or high volume. These are pretty hard to come by here; not for nothing are we given earplugs at the start in case, we’re cheerfully told (by a staff member at this wonderfully welcoming venue), ‘we want to protect our hearing’. It’s hard to resist the fun clearly being had here, but there is perhaps a risk of too much fun at the expense of structure and ultimately purpose.

If the night is intended as a look at the complexities of figuring out sexuality and love, the tendency towards too much anarchy erodes the chance for (and fleeting moments of) real sincerity. But this is not to diminish the acting. Max Young does a great job as Nick, offering badly needed moments of levity, and Eifion Ap Cadno – on stage almost nonstop – is an effective protagonist and guide through the confusing parallel words (although it must be said: the on-stage kisses between our male leads lack chemistry. Buckle in, guys!). The cast in general are likeable, each with flashes of real warmth and humour.

Occasional forays into the realm of the totally absurd, such as an awkward stage dresser strewing bunting with a narrative of bizarre sound effects, feel like time lost that could have supported onward momentum. The risk of these detours is appearing self-indulgent; it’s easy to imagine how they must be side-splitting in the rehearsal room, but tough decisions need to be made about what can be justified in a final cut and some emotional integrity prioritised.

And some jokes naturally work better than others – the flatfish character is confused and a little overplayed, with some of the detail of his ‘backstory’ (as much as a giant fish can have one) being obscured with some missed diction (although Nick Mauldin is commendably entertaining throughout). One joke about the incestuous and downright abusive nature of the curious village our hero is stranded in is certainly a misfire, now more than ever, and has no place here.

Despite these occasional distractions, the rollercoaster seventy minute show sweeps the audience along with it and leaves us brushing party confetti from our shoulders. Infectious music and laugh out loud moments? To borrow a phrase from The Dip: baba ganoush!

Reviewed by Abi Davies

Photography by Lidia Crisafulli

The Dip

The Space until 2nd February

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

I Occur Here | ★★★★★ | August 2018

Little Pieces of Gold | ★★★★★ | October 2018

Love is a Work In Progress | ★★★★ | October 2018

The Full Bronte | ★★★ | October 2018

Woman of the Year | ★★★ | October 2018

Little Women | ★★★½ | December 2018

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com

★★★

“It’s a powerful performance on a vital topic. However, Brawn’s one-hour runtime feels too long for the concept.”

At school Ryan was bullied for being skinny. He watched the most popular, attractive girls date the athletes with the most muscles. A few years later, working for his dad’s building company, Ryan is bullied again for being weak. He decides his body is the problem, and starts weight training. Once he has the body he wants, he’ll get everything else he wants too. That’s how it works, right? The more toned the muscles, the more interest from women, and the more respect from men.

Brawn, written and performed by Christopher Wollaton, is a one-hour monologue that exposes the male casualties of society’s obsession with body image. Often underreported and overlooked, the issue of men who suffer from anxiety and insecurity about their bodies is very real and can have devastating consequences. Brawn takes a hard look at Ryan’s struggle with body dysmorphic disorder and exercise addiction.

The play finds Ryan at a crisis point. He’s stopped going out with friends (they distract from his training routine), he’s stopped drinking (too many calories), he’s even stopped going to the gym, feeling like too many people are watching, judging, competing. Instead he spends almost all of his time in a makeshift gym in his parents’ garage, where the performance takes place. The set is one chair and two very heavy dumbbells, which Wollaton repeatedly lifts throughout the show.

Wollaton is a hypertense, caged animal. His stamina is impressive as he intersperses his lines with sets of pushups and dumbbell reps. It’s a powerful performance on a vital topic. However, Brawn’s one-hour runtime feels too long for the concept. Wollaton frequently rephrases the same ideas, and there’s very little sense of forward motion. Director Matt Staite may have intended the claustrophobic atmosphere – trapping the audience in one small, sparse space like Ryan’s disorder has trapped him in his mind – but the lack of progression, and that the lines are a lot of the same, makes it difficult to stay invested for the full hour.

Brawn is a thinly-stretched hour that could be a much stronger, higher-impact thirty or even fifteen minutes. Nevertheless, Wollaton gives voice to a scarcely heard perspective – one that absolutely deserves an audience. As a society, we need more stories that bring awareness to men’s mental health issues, also specifically to men’s struggles with body image, and though it could use some editing down, Brawn is one that’s stepping up to fill the void.

Reviewed by Addison Waite

Photography by Dann Cooper

The Space

Reviewed – 1st February 2019

★★★

“It’s hard to resist the fun clearly being had here, but there is perhaps a risk of too much fun at the expense of structure and ultimately purpose”

Looking for a quiet night? This raucous performance from an ensemble of impossibly young talents won’t be what you might have in mind – but the psychedelic charms of The Dip are near irresistible.

The narrative, such as it is, is a trippy look at a night of sexual awakening. But plot is secondary here. The music is standout, with cast members seamlessly instrument-swapping (and, on the night I visited, Sophie Hammer on bass keeping a cool head when the sound tech wouldn’t play ball).

Despite these occasional distractions, the rollercoaster seventy minute show sweeps the audience along with it and leaves us brushing party confetti from our shoulders. Infectious music and laugh out loud moments? To borrow a phrase from The Dip: baba ganoush!

Reviewed by Abi Davies

Photography by Lidia Crisafulli

The Dip

The Space until 2nd February

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

The Space

Reviewed – 16th January 2019

★★★

“It’s a powerful performance on a vital topic. However, Brawn’s one-hour runtime feels too long for the concept.”

Reviewed by Addison Waite

Photography by Dann Cooper

Brawn

The Space until 19th January

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: