Tag Archives: Will Monks

Kill Climate Deniers
★★★★

Pleasance Theatre

Kill Climate Deniers

Kill Climate Deniers

Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed – 7th June 2019

★★★★

 

“by thirty minutes in the audience mood has swelled into bonhomie”

 

‘You want to call your play something fun, something playful, something catchy’. So opens this exploration of the overlapping worlds of climate science, denial and activism. The questionable ‘fun’ of the title sums up the tensions that David Finnigan’s writing and Nic Connaughton’s direction unpack; tensions between laugh-out-loud comedy and the very real tragedy of our warming planet.

The ninety minute production in the downstairs Pleasance Space starts a little slowly, understandably. Some narrative explication is needed; this play is meta to the max, and even more so on press night when playwright David Finnigan was both represented on stage, by Nathan Coenen, and sitting within the audience. Coenen, as ‘Finig’, addresses us throughout the play, inserting wry asides and giving context to the ideas that led to his writing a play with quite such an inflammatory title (of which more later).

The otherwise all-female cast is uniformly strong, variously turning their hands to physicality, comedy and pathos, but it’s no surprise that the star of the show is highly-regarded comedian Felicity Ward as earnest but chaotic Environment Minister Gwen Malkin. We watch as Finig’s flippant (or was it?) play title starts to convert into a call to action, and the second phase of the play sees a switch into action with Malkin eventually taking down climate terrorists to an absolutely banging soundtrack of nineties dance classics.

The choreography, by movement director Rubyyy Jones, is exceptional; they deserve note for further enhancing and celebrating the energy of this litany of amazing tracks. Jones’ work and great lighting design from Geoff Hense help the play into gear and by thirty minutes in the audience mood has swelled into bonhomie – aided in no small part by a lively shared rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘You Can Go Your Own Way’. On that note, fans of The Mac be warned; there is plenty of fun gently poked at the rockers, who play an unexpectedly central role. It’s not personal, though; few institutions go un-poked, and there are some especially ripe representations of Australian right-wing commentators and their slippery uses of language.

Uses and abuses of language are a recurring theme. Finig questions whether it was right to use the menacing imperative of the title and opens the night by repeating, mantra-like, ‘sometimes you get it wrong, you get it wrong, you get it wrong…’. By the close of the play, the audience are similarly turned around. Is it right or helpful to remain in ardent opposition to people with whom we may, in fact, have more in common than we realise? And can we ever effect change that will halt our not-so-slow march towards extinction, or would the change itself be harder than we can bear? Sometimes we do all, indeed, get it wrong, and we all are where climate change is concerned. But Finnigan certainly got this one right.

 

Reviewed by Abi Davies

Photography by Ali Wright

 


Kill Climate Deniers

Pleasance Theatre until 28th June

 

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:
Bingo | ★★★ | June 2018
Aid Memoir | ★★★ | October 2018
One Duck Down | ★★★★★ | October 2018
The Archive of Educated Hearts | ★★★★ | October 2018
Call Me Vicky | ★★★ | February 2019
Neck Or Nothing | ★★★★ | April 2019
Night Of The Living Dead Live | ★★★ | April 2019
Don’t Look Away | ★★★½ | May 2019
Regen | ★★★ | May 2019
The Millennials | ★★½ | May 2019

 

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Donal the Numb
★★★★

VAULT Festival

Donal the Numb

Donal the Numb

The Vaults

Reviewed – 6th March 2019

★★★★

 

“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.

 

Reviewed by Joseph Prestwich

 

Vault Festival 2019

Donal the Numb

Part of VAULT Festival 2019

 

 

 

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