“the hugely divergent standard of work ultimately left me feeling nothing very strongly”
Untold Arts’ Untold Stories, staged in the beautiful blank canvas of SLAM, King’s Cross, was an eclectic evening of diversely varying quality. The setting was, in the words of Holly Kavanagh’s piece, ‘a bit of atmosphere’: a relaxed, fairly priced bar and small tables in a cabaret arrangement with candles in the centre, created a warmly welcoming space and aura of storytelling. Kavanagh’s self-authored and performed Singles Night: Over 50s, was sharply observed, expertly realised, wittily and sensitively communicated. Her multi-roling was marvellous and memorable. She was truly riveting to watch, and set the bar for the evening very high.
Goulburn
Mike Shephard’s Goulburn provided an immediate tonal contrast. The premise was interesting, and the build to the murder and role reversal was well-achieved. But the piece rested on two-dimensional stereotypes of female interaction, propelled by brashly-drawn characters (nonetheless convincingly performed), which meant the denouement had no depth, but only a shallow shock factor.
Nick Myles’ Knees started bravely, with David Lenik as Jay bursting onto the stage through the audience crying ‘Help me!’: but Knees did not commit itself to one feeling or line of communication, either in writing or directing, thus the piece was too erratic to engage with.
Singles
Both Rebecca Jones’ Stevie and Mark Lindow’s I’ll be Along D’reckly shared the same pitfall as the second two items on the programme: they were not staged for the audience, but rather an insular foray into two imagined psychologies of two people whom the writers seemed to have thought and researched very little about. The fact that Stevie was not performed by a disabled actor was a lazy and upsetting decision by the production team. Watching as Dave Perry as Noah wheeled himself off stage only to bound back on thirty seconds later to collect his applause was almost unbelievable. The piece was not worth it for such cavalier offence. A dash of scrutiny would not have gone amiss.
Bakersfield (heading image on this page) had many merits. Compellingly and strikingly performed by Kingsley Amadi and well-lit by Florence Bell, it was bursting at the seams with ideas and moving subject matter. If anything, the piece had too much in it for the format of the evening, and Chris Oduh would do well considering developing it into a longer work. By comparison, Mark Lindow’s I’ll be Along D’reckly was thinly written, and though Silas Hawkins’ performance was lived-in and honest, the content did not have enough backbone to support him.
Shyam Bhatt’s Treya’s Last Dance was funny and full of life, which made the slow reveal of her brother’s death and the complex social circumstances which provoked it all-the-more poignant. A little too long in places, but energetically directed and beautifully performed by Bhatt, the piece was the perfect close to the evening.
Untold Stories was a showcase not without flashes of theatre at its best, but the hugely divergent standard of work ultimately left me feeling nothing very strongly, except that I wished I had been told some different ones; or similar stories much better.
“an urgent and important message that everyone should hear”
The Scar Test presented by Untold Arts and directed by Sara Joyce was a fantastically honest production reflecting how refugees are treated from individual female perspectives. Written by Palestinian-Irish playwright Hannah Khalil the production was centred around verbatim interviews with women detained in the Yarlswood Immigration Removal Centre. The play explored the injustices and humiliation faced by refugees and portrayed an important message. The narrative consisted of snapshots of different stories and the frustrations faced by innocent women trapped in the system.
The characters were personable, often incorporating humour to emphasise their relatability. Rebecca Omogbehin’s performance was distressing and powerful. She played a woman who fled her country after suffering unspeakable abuse whilst trying to maintain dignity and pride. She poignantly captured the sense of shame the woman felt by having to reveal her scars and waiting to find out whether the physical and emotional damage would be deemed sufficient evidence to grant her asylum in the UK. Shazia Nicholls displays seamless versatility in her portrayal of a wide array of characters, notably a frustrated and exhausted solicitor desperately trying to assist these struggling women who desperately need help and legal representation.
The set was minimal with the presence of four ceiling mounted CCTV cameras, never allowing the audience to forget that the detainees were always being watched and gave it a prison like feel. The use of costume by Amelia Jane Hankin was also effective, with the whole cast in grey giving a sense of institutionalised uniformity and the lack of individual identity felt by the detainees. All the performers wore hoods that were put up when playing the role of security, the faceless, insensitive representation of the system.
The production was a moving and harrowing insight into the emotional turmoil faced by female refugees. The performances were extremely emotionally charged and at times distressing but it was a sensitive, hard-hitting production that successfully communicated an urgent and important message that everyone should hear.
Goulburn
Singles
