Tag Archives: White Bear Theatre

JUST STOP EXTINCTION REBELLION

★★★

White Bear Theatre

JUST STOP EXTINCTION REBELLION at the White Bear Theatre

★★★

“the potential for an exciting clash of cultures in this piece never transpires”

Just Stop Extinction Rebellion is a hopeful play about finding romance, and finding yourself, in the autumn of life whilst the world is burning. An overtly political play this is not – admitted by the playwright, Brad Sutherland, in a note on the programme. The context in which the central pair meet, at an upper-middle class, West London climate activist group, is little more than incidental and could as easily have been a church choir. However, the meet cute does reflect the pair’s need to find meaning beyond their own little lives – seeking hope that more people can be saved from the actions they take.

The two leads are the effervescent Millicent Forbes-Frobischer of Barnes, patron of the Globe and regular at Waitrose, played with aplomb by Louise Bangay, and plain old Ben, soppy and staid James Price. Millicent is seven months separated from her husband under circumstances left unresolved. Ben is equally frustrated in his marriage, having been pushed out by his wife, Petra (Orsolya Nagy) who calls herself an ‘evil bitch’. Over the course of many months, the two grow closer as they share in their marriage woes and plot with fellow activists Gaia (also Nagy), George (Stephen Riddle) and Mrs Warboys (Hilary Field). Whilst there is sweetness to the pairs developing relationship after so many years out of the dating game, Price’s Ben is wet and left wanting beside Bangay as the dazzling Millicent. And whereas Millicent benefits from a clearly defined character arc, Ben is walked all over by his cruel wife and ends pretty much back where he started.

More interesting is the relationship between Millicent and George as their ideas for addressing the climate emergency rub up against each other. George raises motions to use guerrilla tactics of egg bombing cars and lying down in the road to halt traffic. Millicent wants to affect change through policy, and proposes a motion as such at her first meeting. His patronising quotation of Mark Twain ‘if I don’t read newspapers I’m I’ll informed, if I read them I’m uninformed’ receives a quipped at equally belittling reply from Millicent and we realise George may have met his match.

“Kenneth Michaels makes some odd directorial choices”

Whilst the plays author, Brad Sutherland, may apologise for trying to write a balanced play airing both sides, in my view, that’s a strength. Both approaches are necessary – activism for raising consciousness and demanding change and policymaking for driving the change. The characters’ perspectives are perhaps influenced by their power – Millicent as an upper middle class woman with connections in the media and government can demand and achieve attention for her policy ideas. George, whose daughter has recently died, just wants immediate action.

Kenneth Michaels makes some odd directorial choices, namely the cheesy dancing sequences to ‘Walking on Sunshine’ the extended chanting and breathwork sequences by the spiritual Gaia. Nagy’s caricatured performance in a rainbow streaked wig and billowing costumes (Samantha Parry) makes a mockery of activism without any redeeming features.

Despite the strong performance of Louise Bangay and a chameleonic turn from Stephen Riddle as Millicent’s dapper husband Henry, the potential for an exciting clash of cultures in this piece never transpires and instead the play’s emotional heart is left wanting by weak characters and parodied performances.


JUST STOP EXTINCTION REBELLION at the White Bear Theatre

Reviewed on 1st February 2024

by Amber Woodward

Photography by Paddy Gormley

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

I FOUND MY HORN | ★★★★ | February 2023
THE MIDNIGHT SNACK | ★★★ | December 2022
THE SILENT WOMAN | ★★★★ | April 2022
US | ★★★★ | February 2022
MARLOWE’S FATE | ★★★ | November 2021
LUCK BE A LADY | ★★★ | June 2021

JUST STOP EXTINCTION REBELLION

JUST STOP EXTINCTION REBELLION

I Found My Horn

I Found My Horn

★★★★

White Bear Theatre

I FOUND MY HORN at the White Bear Theatre

★★★★

I Found My Horn

“Burton’s brisk direction of the piece highlights Lewis’ striking performance”

 

In the course of history there has been much written about the role of music and its importance in our lives. Perhaps it is the greatest creation of mankind. The greatest form of expression. Among its countless attributes, most people discover – at some point or other – music to be a way to escape from the pain of life. Jasper Rees, the protagonist of the one-man, semi-autobiographical “I Found My Horn” would certainly, if reluctantly, agree. We meet Jasper as he climbs into the attic of his former home to sort out and pack up the last few pieces of a broken life. The attic (a superbly and evocatively created design by Alex Marker) is a cave of intimate nostalgia and memories. Divorce has driven him here, with a mid-life crisis for a back seat driver.

That all sounds pretty grim, but it is merely a starting point and, in the hands of Jonathan Guy Lewis as the luckless Jasper, the feelgood factor is off the scale during the ensuing eighty minutes of joyous, warm-hearted-theatre. Written by Lewis, with Jasper Rees, it is based on the latter’s book published in 2008. The pair teamed up with director Harry Burton to create the show which opened in London in 2009. Lewis’s character has grown older since then: the text has been slightly altered to accommodate the advancing years, but the sentiment, the meaning and the comedy are as powerful as ever.

Rather than finding the French horn in his attic, it is as though the horn has summoned Jasper. It speaks to him, begging to be freed from its dusty case and given back its purpose. They can help each other out here. It has been thirty-nine years since Jasper last picked it up and now, as he tentatively holds it in his hands, he regales us with the memories it triggers: and the renewed ambition it stirs up. He attends the British Horn Society’s annual concert and decides to play Mozart’s Horn Concerto No3 at the event the following year. He attends a ‘Horn Camp’ in America which simultaneously crushes and ignites his ambition. Meanwhile we are treated to flashbacks to his school days and humiliating moments in the orchestra. Lewis switches hilariously and seamlessly between all the characters that crowd his past and present, adopting mannerisms and accents that are spot-on. He has an astoundingly natural ability to make them heightened yet recognisable and real. Even the French horn itself is given an endearing personality. And, as Jasper, we instantly relate to the man, and to his dreams and regrets.

It is no spoiler to reveal that Jasper achieves his objective and is given a solo slot at the concert. It is his journey there that captivates us. Burton’s brisk direction of the piece highlights Lewis’ striking performance. We effortlessly perceive the complex layers inherent in the writing that in lesser hands might have been muddied. The horn itself is undoubtedly a metaphor – a kind of “Sparky’s Magic Piano” for grown-ups. Ultimately it is a very moving story, not just of making music, but of facing your demons. But it is best not to over analyse. Just revel in the humour and forget the symbolism. It is a joyous and heart-warming performance.

 

 

Reviewed on 2nd February 2023

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Max Hamilton-Mackenzie

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

 

Luck be a Lady | ★★★ | June 2021
Marlowe’s Fate | ★★★ | November 2021
Us | ★★★★ | February 2022
The Silent Woman | ★★★★ | April 2022
The Midnight Snack | ★★★ | December 2022

 

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