William Nash Archives - Page 4 of 10

A Trilogy of One-Woman Plays:

Just to sit at her Table, Silver Hammer and Mirabilis

★★★

Bread and Roses Theatre

Reviewed – 10th April 2019

“there are nuggets of likeable characters, dark comic wit and new voices that give the show its unusual energy”

Matthew Lyon brings us three female monologues, interwoven among each other and covering topics from female psychopathy to spiritual anorexia. Each monologue is cut and scattered on top of the others as the show tries to pull the characters closer together. While there’s no direct interaction between the actors, their physical presence on stage naturally assumes a connection, and the viewer reads each in the context of the others. This mosaic adds complexity but introduces confusion.

The first to speak is Sadie (Tayla Kenyon), a 21st-century spelling pedant and sex worker. Sadie speaks directly to the audience and is fully aware that she is on stage. Carly (Ellen Patterson) and Laura (Sirelyn Raak) follow. Carly is engaging and complex as she recounts various murders she has committed with the intensity and the attitude that makes me think she might be the Patrick Bateman for the #MeToo era. Lastly, Laura is the most cryptic of the three. She is said to be suffering from Anorexia Mirabilis, a version of the eating disorder stemming not from beauty standards but instead from a constant seeking of God.

While each monologue on their own makes sense, together they’re a stool with different length legs. At times, the seat seems to sit flat with the women complimenting each other, but more often than not there is a struggle to grasp what binds the threads together (other than their shared author). There were some excellent candidates for unifying themes; alcoholic parents, hedonism, or self-gratification. But, none quite fit properly, and the stool ended up a little lopsided.

The acting is technically very sound from all three. There’s little development throughout the evening, but each of the women on stage brings something different to the piece. The set and lighting are minimal in the incredibly cosy Bread and Roses Theatre. Pulsating coloured lights give elements of the show a dreamlike setting and the catwalk setup provides the actors with the space where they need.

Ultimately, these neat characters perish in their embrace. Presented alone they make sense, but spliced together the audience member is left lost without a clear message. Nevertheless, there are nuggets of likeable characters, dark comic wit and new voices that give the show its unusual energy.

Reviewed by William Nash

A Trilogy of One-Woman Plays

Bread & Roses Theatre until 13th April

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Once a Year on Blackpool Sands | ★★★★ | June 2018

Richard II | ★★ | August 2018

Like Lions | ★★★★ | October 2018

Metamorphosis | ★★★★ | October 2018

Testament | ★★★★ | October 2018

The Enemies | ★★★ | October 2018

The Gap | ★★★★ | October 2018

Baby Blues | ★★★ | December 2018

A Modest Little Man | ★★★ | January 2019

Two Of A Kind | ★★★ | January 2019

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

Scary Bikers

Trafalgar Studios

Reviewed – 4th April 2019

★★★★

“a wonderfully poignant and hilariously funny comedy about life after death”

Imagine turning on your PlayStation or opening Candy Crush, and instead of the heady dopamine hit of flashing lights and reward pathways, you get your work email inbox. That is how to it feels to find out that the play you’re going to see is about Brexit. Fortunately, Scary Bikers is as concerned about Brexit as ‘Titanic’ was about 20th-century steel ships; it’s definitely in the play, but it’s not much fun when they talk about it.

John Godber both wrote and directed Scary Bikers, and he plays Don with Jane Thornton as Carol across the stage. Don has lost his wife to lung cancer after a lifetime of working-class lore with miners’ strikes, stolen coal and the inevitable retraining. Carol too has lost her husband, a northern boy done good as an architect, lost to a brain tumour as middle age wanes and old age waxes. They meet, in a graveyard of all places, and come to chatting.

Carol now owns a middle-class cycling cafe in her husband’s memory as she plans a cycle trip to Florence. Don has fared less well with isolation, bitterness and a loss of the little faith he ever had. Somehow, Don is convinced to pay ‘two thousand bludy pounds’ to join this trip to Florence but on a tandem with Carol.

As they take the ferry from Hull to the continent, Britain goes to the polls and Godber the writer goes for the crowbar; squeezing in hindsight-rich observations about Brexit framed as an argument between the two characters. It’s all a little forced as they fall out on politics then resolve.

The pointed heads over at Sky Arts had the idea of Art 50: a pot of money for artists around the UK to produce content on the ineffable question of “What it means to be British”. He who pays the piper, calls the tune, and Godber dutifully dances just enough to satisfy his paymasters at Sky.

But he’s sly, and the play is never really about Brexit. Truthfully, it’s a wonderfully poignant and hilariously funny comedy about life after death; not your death but the death of someone you loved. Where Don and Carol struck the audience was as their lost partners appeared beside them and each talked with loss, pain and comedy pulsating out into the audience. The Brexit conversation doesn’t land in the same way. There’s a valiant attempt to represent both sides of the debate but the ideas feel more like talking points in a contemporary essay, rather than characters expressing themselves in the moment.

Scary Bikers arrives through the headwind of Brexit. Foxton’s detailed set (the cycling cafe) establishes a precise sense of place for some of the scenes and a static tandem on stage gifts the actors with opportunities for wonderful physical comedy. But the real velocity comes from the performances. Godber gets the laughs ever time with his gruff but profound portrayal and Thornton brings a beautiful arc as Carol grows and escapes the fear and anxiety which sat upon her. Ultimately, if a play which keeps mentioning Brexit can make you laugh, it’s a good’un in my books.

Just to sit at her Table, Silver Hammer and Mirabilis

★★★

Bread and Roses Theatre

Reviewed – 10th April 2019

“there are nuggets of likeable characters, dark comic wit and new voices that give the show its unusual energy”

Ultimately, these neat characters perish in their embrace. Presented alone they make sense, but spliced together the audience member is left lost without a clear message. Nevertheless, there are nuggets of likeable characters, dark comic wit and new voices that give the show its unusual energy.

Reviewed by William Nash

A Trilogy of One-Woman Plays

Bread & Roses Theatre until 13th April

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Trafalgar Studios

Reviewed – 4th April 2019

★★★★

“a wonderfully poignant and hilariously funny comedy about life after death”

As they take the ferry from Hull to the continent, Britain goes to the polls and Godber the writer goes for the crowbar; squeezing in hindsight-rich observations about Brexit framed as an argument between the two characters. It’s all a little forced as they fall out on politics then resolve.

The pointed heads over at Sky Arts had the idea of Art 50: a pot of money for artists around the UK to produce content on the ineffable question of “What it means to be British”. He who pays the piper, calls the tune, and Godber dutifully dances just enough to satisfy his paymasters at Sky.

Reviewed by William Nash

Photography by Antony Robling

Scary Bikers

Trafalgar Studios until 27th April

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: