The Yard Theatre Archives - thespyinthestalls.com

★★★★

“this is an exciting and stylishly gritty production that does justice to every single story it tells”

In 1880s London, a flea bites a horse that kicks a man, setting off a chain of events that ripples from the boys of the postal service to Queen Victoria herself. Written by James Fritz and directed by Jay Miller, The Flea is an exploration of the threads that run across London, connecting the poor telegraph boy Charlie Swinscow with his mother, with local bad boy Henry Newlove, with Bertie Prince of Wales, and with a queer aristocratic sex ring that will shock the nation. It is not a period piece but a vibrant, vital play that sparks and seethes; an intoxicating production that probes sensitively at the questions at its heart.

Spanning such vast networks, it is remarkably self-assured. Just five cast members share twelve roles between them, and it is a testament to the extremely talented actors that the doubling works as well as it does. We watch Séamus McLean Ross swing effortlessly from the reserved and somewhat listless Charlie Swinscow to the roaring Bertie Prince of Wales, and Norah Lopez Holden is magnetic as the heartbroken seamstress Emily Swinscow, and as Queen Victoria. The highlight is Connor Finch, who delivers nuanced and moving performances as both the bruised, swaggering post office clerk Henry Newlove, and the aristocratic playboy Arthur Somerset, his life and love crumbling before him.

The set, designed by Naomi Kuyck-Cohen, is an unsettling approximation of a Victorian living room, or perhaps a giant mouth, where all the furniture is of an uncertain size, and the cast must clamber up chairs that hang high on the wall, or squeeze themselves into a tiny chaise lounge. This works well alongside the production’s exploration of scale: as we move through the play, it becomes apparent that just about everybody is under the boot of, or looking for the approval of, a higher power. The costumes, designed by Lambdog1066 (with hair and makeup by Dominique Hamilton), are also excellent, traversing the boundary between the ostensibly historical setting and the uncanny, slightly twisted world we find ourselves in. Combined with atmospheric yet subtle sound and lighting design (Josh Anio Grigg and Jonathan Chan respectively) the staging is very versatile, and apt for exploring the play’s sprawling plot.

At times the ambition is too great. It is a testament to Fritz’s writing that no relationship exists in a vacuum, but keeping up with each character’s complex associations and motivations can grow exhausting. Towards the end, the play grows slightly unwieldy and tonally uncertain, carried away by its own potential for vastness. Particularly an extended scene between Queen Victoria and God Himself, while brilliantly delivered, feels unnecessary and distracting. Instead, the play is at its best when it is probing closer to home, managing to pose some incredibly difficult ethical questions without purporting to offer any simple solutions. Ultimately, this is an exciting and stylishly gritty production that does justice to every single story it tells, all the way from the flea through to Queen Victoria.

Dadderrs / In a Way so Brutal

The Yard Theatre

Reviewed – 22nd January 2020

Dadderrs ★★★ In a Way so Brutal ★★★★

“This is an intensely theatrical evening, but it is stretching the definition of theatre, to the extent that you might well question it”

Just occasionally (I’ve only done it once before in my two and a half years reviewing for Spy in the Stalls) an assignment demands that I step out of the traditional anonymity assigned to the critic; last night’s double bill at The Yard was one such evening. This is visceral work that wants our involvement. And though, yes, there are elements of ‘audience participation’, that isn’t really what I mean. I mean, in LIFE. It is work that shouts, ‘BE ACTIVE. GET INVOLVED. THINK. QUESTION. LIVE.’ I’ll be turning 50 in a few months time, and was definitely one of the oldies in the audience, and I left feeling invigorated and excited by the creative possibilities being explored by these contemporary makers, even if not everything was to my taste. This is an intensely theatrical evening, but it is stretching the definition of theatre, to the extent that you might well question it. Is this theatre? Or is it performance art? Whatever your answer might be, it’s mighty refreshing to be made to think about it!

First up is Dadderrs, performed by husband and wife team – or husband and husband/wife team, as they introduce themselves – Daniel Oliver and Frauke Requardt. It isn’t a play, so much as a happening, akin to the work of 1960s performance artists, both here and across the Atlantic, and it combines many elements beloved of that period – nudity, paint, surreal costume, haze, audience involvement, singing and an otherworldly soundscape (credit here to Steve Blake’s terrific work). Frauke and Daniel invite us into their marriage, and into an uninhibited, intimate, honest, playful, shame-free world of their devising – the Meadowdrome. Daniel is dyspraxic and Frauke has ADHD, and the piece plays with their different tempos; in so doing, it invites us to think about difference, and how harmony can be found there. Ultimately, it is a piece about love. Spoken by an audience member and left hanging in the air as the stage is plunged back into the soundless dark, love is the very last word. Love.

Coming back into the space after the interval, it’s clear that we’re about to witness a very different spectacle with In a Way so Brutal. (It’s also clear why the interval overran by 20 minutes!) The level of art and artifice has stepped up a gear, and we are presented with a stunning (and also seriously tongue in cheek) living picture. Eirini Kartsaki is posed like a Botticelli, all curvy flesh and flowing tresses, but…her nipples are suction-cupped with plastic, and there are Sarah Lucas-like stuffed stocking shapes adorning the ‘set’. Tasos Stamou’s table of sonic wizardry is lit up like a miniature futuristic cityscape, and Stamou himself produces sound as a chemist produces psychedelics. Quite apart from the exceptional music he was making, watching him work was hypnotic. Kartsaki is a powerful presence on stage, both visually and vocally. Although the words themselves seemed curiously ‘retro-shock’ to me, the combined visual, sonic and aural sense assault ended up seducing me with its fierce and sexy punk energy. And seduction by theatre is never a bad thing.

The Yard’s Now festival is billed as ‘the festival of the best theatre for right Now’. Whether or not you agree will arguably depend on what your experience of ‘right now’ is. If the status quo suits, this evening won’t be for you; if not, it might well be exactly the joyful, anarchic fix you’re crying out for.

THE FLEA at The Yard Theatre

★★★★

“this is an exciting and stylishly gritty production that does justice to every single story it tells”

THE FLEA at The Yard Theatre

Reviewed on 21st October 2023

by Anna Studsgarth

Photography by Marc Brenner

Links to more of our recent reviews:

The Flea

The Flea

The Yard Theatre

Reviewed – 22nd January 2020

Dadderrs ★★★ In a Way so Brutal ★★★★

“This is an intensely theatrical evening, but it is stretching the definition of theatre, to the extent that you might well question it”

Reviewed by Rebecca Crankshaw

Photography by Maurizio Martorana

Dadderrs / In a Way so Brutal

The Yard Theatre until 25th January as part of Now 20

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: