“packs some great ideas into an enjoyable hour of dancing, singing, jokes, balloons and cartwheels”
Criminally, this was my first time at VAULT Festival, the “carnival of experience” where for eight weeks a year, London theatre-goers can head underground to see an amazing array of theatre, comedy, cabaret and more. The festival aesthetic is pure urban decay with shows chalked up on boards and posters filling every gap, and it’s certainly a cool environment to explore. As shows go, ‘Donal the Numb’ was an intriguing way to lose my VAULT virginity. At once funny, sad, and wince-inducing, Ross White’s one-man-show is an honest and moving exploration of how human beings deal with distress.
Donal has come all this way to put on a show. He’s a medical marvel, a freak, a Daily Mail sensation. And he’s ready to tell his story. A sensitive child, Donal quickly learns how to bottle and store his more extreme emotions. Ignored by his older brother Eoin and bullied in high school, he develops a strange numbness to everything. He can literally feel nothing. No pain when he breaks his leg on sports day, no joy, no sadness. As his family begins to breakdown and disappear, will he ever manage to get his feelings back?
As the sole performer, Ross White effortlessly blends Donal’s vacant numbness with an array of different characters. From his kind and caring mother singing ‘Thank You For The Music’ to a stern religious father whipping out biblical jokes, Donal’s memorable family form the emotional core of this story, and as we hear more and more of their worried voicemails (outstanding work from voice over artists Ellen Whitehead, Odhrán McNulty and Michael Shea), the gravity of Donal’s condition begins to sink in.
The set design (Liam Bunster) is sparse but fun, with a circus-style Donal poster, balloons and red carpeted steps welcoming us to the carnival. Director Katie-Ann McDonough has drawn out the comedy in White’s movements and character choices, but these could still be physically and vocally more defined. Donal’s gruesome attempts to feel pain sent the audience recoiling in horror and, oddly, become one of the most thrilling aspects of the show.
Donal is not an exception however, there’s a Donal in all of us. His family’s story ends in tragedy, and Donal can only stare out at his audience, challenging them to feel something that he cannot. But how often do we bury down our emotions, shy away from them? How often do we let silence mask what we really feel? Donal teaches us to indulge, share, and be open to change.
Touching and funny, this slender play packs some great ideas into an enjoyable hour of dancing, singing, jokes, balloons and cartwheels. Catch it while you can.
“A relevant, well-acted play with brilliant story concept. If Wood can work out the kinks in the script, Alcatraz could be a powerful show”
On Christmas Eve, 11-year-old Sandy embarks on a rescue mission: she’s going to break her granny out of the care home where they’ve locked her up. Sandy’s seen Escape from Alcatraz enough times – if Clint Eastwood can do it, so can she. The exasperated head nurse and a well-meaning new staff member are just two of the many obstacles between Sandy, her gran, and freedom.
Alcatraz, written by Nathan Lucky Wood and directed by Emily Collins, questions the state of elderly care in modern society. It’s an excellent premise for a vital topic. A child equating her grandmother’s care home with Alcatraz, and carrying out a plan to rescue her, is a scintillating approach to the social commentary. It’s a promising concept that hasn’t quite reached its potential.
The beginning of the play is confusing. Sandy (Katherine Carlton) monologues about papier-mâché, and narrates her journey breaking into ‘Alcatraz’ while reciting the plot of Escape from Alcatraz. These sections feel as long as it inevitably does when an overeager person is describing their favourite film. It’s difficult to care, and Wood hasn’t given us a reason to. Unless you’ve read the programme (which the script should not require), it’s unclear what Sandy’s doing or where she is. The disorientation creates a sense of detachment: if we don’t know her mission, we cannot be invested in whether she’ll achieve it. Additionally, a child breaking into a prison (or care home) has little stakes. What will happen if she’s caught? A reprimand and a call home. The scenario doesn’t inspire the sort of apprehension necessary to hold interest without any context to support it.
The story picks up when Sandy reaches her gran, and they make their escape. There’s good interaction between the characters and solid acting all around. The adult Carlton is impressively convincing as an 11-year-old. Josh Asaré is charming as flustered trainee-carer Peter. Ellie Dickens brings adept lightness to Donna, Sandy’s grandmother who is suffering from dementia. Although described as “not nice”, Lainy Boyle brings humanity to burned-out head nurse Arden.
The script continues to hit snags. The faltering pace makes the play feel far longer than its 60-minute runtime. An abundance of opportunities for humour aren’t fully capitalised on. There’s an attempt to pack what could be a second full-length play into the final ten minutes: Sandy’s father (Alec Nicholls) is introduced, along with a barrage of information about his relationship with Sandy and Donna, and Sandy’s absent mother. The scene quickly escalates to melodrama that isn’t necessarily earned, considering we’re just meeting the father. We don’t have the connection to him we need to feel his devastation as he confronts his failings. This is an intriguing, complicated family. It’s a shame the play only scratches their surface at the very end.
Alcatraz is a relevant, well-acted play with brilliant story concept. If Wood can work out the kinks in the script, Alcatraz could be a powerful show.
