VAULT Festival 2019 Archives - Page 6 of 21

★★★

“full of exceptional elements and packed with potential”

Sullivan immediately notices Madeleine is out of place at a lesbian speed-dating event: obviously straight. When Sullivan calls her on it, Madeleine admits she’s only trying to throw off a guy who’s been following her. Intrigued, Sullivan listens as Madeleine explains she has no idea who he is, just that he follows her everywhere and leaves her love poems, signing his name ‘Swann’. Sullivan tells Madeleine she’s a former private investigator, and offers to take her case.

Without That Certain Thing, written by Rory Platt and directed by Chloe Christian is the debut play from Thank You Dark Theatre Company. The narration given by Sullivan (Phoebe Naughton) is a delightful parody of a film noir detective story. Platt’s prose plays with the familiar language of murder mysteries, and Naughton pulls it off with an adept sense of the rhythm and comedy. Platt savours words as passionately as the poetry-obsessed Swann. There’s some truly brilliant writing, so it’s a shame the script feels like a rough draft. The story needs clarifying and sharpening. The scenes need editing. What is clever and fresh too frequently gets bogged down by excess.

The premise itself is murky, and doesn’t really make sense. If you’re being stalked, you don’t pay someone £80 per day to chat with the guy. Sullivan brushes off the police by telling Madeleine the best she can hope for is a six-month sentence or a fine. The obvious objective of a restraining order is never mentioned. So instead Sullivan too spends the days talking to Swann to discover him as a person. She has no clear purpose or strategy. Because of this, the play feels adrift, the scenes meandering. We’re looking for Sullivan to be trying to solve the case. A twist at the end explains why she isn’t, but it doesn’t save the majority of the play from seeming aimless, which makes it feel very long. Even the most exquisite writing won’t save a story that doesn’t move.

But the direction and design are excellent. White tape squares on the stage subtly suggest different locations while also being reminiscent of chalk outlines. The movement is impressive – the performers effortlessly swirl from scene to scene: a flat, a street, the tube, an office, a park, etc. Christian makes an effective choice to keep Swann (Tom Macqueen) on stage throughout, lurking in shadows, but occasionally stepping in to hand someone a prop (an inspired bit of humour that works well). Naughton is in full command of her role, and is a pleasure to watch. Macqueen is outstanding as the disturbed and delusional Swann. Caitlin McEwan (Madeleine) is the blank canvas her character is meant to be.

Without That Certain Thing is full of exceptional elements and packed with potential. A sharp outside eye to edit and some further development could make it a first-rate show.

Reviewed by Addison Waite

I Will Still be Whole (When You Rip me in Half)

The Vaults

Reviewed – 27th February 2019

★★★½

“It is a shame that this show does not quite reach its full potential. Nonetheless, its moving dialogue and authentic voice make it easy to watch”

Joy watches her baby daughter sleeping. The baby opens her eyes, looks up at her mother, and smiles. With one swift motion, Joy turns and leaves the house, leaves her old life, leaves her child’s life. She will disappear for twenty years.

Today is the day. EJ will look into her mother’s eyes for the first time in over two decades. But what will she see? Will there be a reconciliation, or will the past create a barrier between them?

Ava Wong Davies’ examination of the fractured relationship between mother and daughter is intertwined with political and social commentary and executed with poetic flair. Her writing is detailed, yet restrained: it invites intrigue, but holds just enough back to keep us guessing. Whilst tackling the mother-daughter relationship, she simultaneously makes subtle commentary on identity and its instability. Although EJ seems confident, her idealisation of the white woman she met on a night out suggests that she less self-assured than we imagined. In one particularly striking scene, Joy recalls her attempts to erase all traces of foreignness. She stops cooking Chinese food for her colleagues. She practises her British accent in front of the mirror. It pays off: when people hear her clipped, unaccented voice, they smile, treat her differently.

Wong Davies’ writing is beautiful and moving, but I couldn’t help wishing that the promised discussion of ‘inherited trauma and the essential violence of whiteness’ has been more front and centre. The Pit, a small and intimate venue in the Vaults Theatre, is the ideal place to confront these issues close up. Perhaps it was director Helen Morley’s efforts to maintain pace, or the invasiveness of Amanda Fleming’s music, but it felt as though important moments evaporated too quickly.

This is unfortunate, because the production as a whole is well executed. Kailing Fu’s Joy is elusive without being too distant. Her direct honesty and deadpan wit make Joy likeable, whilst maintaining the self-imposed barrier that she has chosen to hide behind. EJ (Rosa Escoda) comes to life vividly; her uncensored authenticity make her accessible to the audience, a perfect contrast to Joy. The physical separation of the two is marked by a line of objects – shoes, a bottle of water, a bowl of oranges – that is gradually broken down as the play reaches its climax. The design is effective without feeling too contrived, and is an efficient use of the small, slightly cramped stage.

It is a shame that this show does not quite reach its full potential. Nonetheless, its moving dialogue and authentic voice make it easy to watch. My advice: take some time to sit and think about what you have just seen, it will impress the more you reflect.

Tag Archives: VAULT Festival 2019

Without That Certain Thing
★★★

VAULT Festival

Network Theatre

Reviewed – 27th February 2019

★★★

“full of exceptional elements and packed with potential”

Without That Certain Thing is full of exceptional elements and packed with potential. A sharp outside eye to edit and some further development could make it a first-rate show.

Reviewed by Addison Waite

Without That Certain Thing

Part of VAULT Festival 2019

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

I Will Still be Whole (When You Rip me in Half)
★★★½

VAULT Festival

The Vaults

Reviewed – 27th February 2019

★★★½

“It is a shame that this show does not quite reach its full potential. Nonetheless, its moving dialogue and authentic voice make it easy to watch”

Joy watches her baby daughter sleeping. The baby opens her eyes, looks up at her mother, and smiles. With one swift motion, Joy turns and leaves the house, leaves her old life, leaves her child’s life. She will disappear for twenty years.

Today is the day. EJ will look into her mother’s eyes for the first time in over two decades. But what will she see? Will there be a reconciliation, or will the past create a barrier between them?

It is a shame that this show does not quite reach its full potential. Nonetheless, its moving dialogue and authentic voice make it easy to watch. My advice: take some time to sit and think about what you have just seen, it will impress the more you reflect.

Reviewed by Harriet Corke

I Will Still be Whole (When You Rip me in Half)

Part of VAULT Festival 2019

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