All posts by Edward Lukes

“Far Away” at the Donmar Warehouse

Although it has a running time of only 45 minutes, there’s nothing little about this masterpiece from Caryl Churchill.

Believe it or not, despite the brief duration, Far Away could even be thought of as three plays rather than one. Maybe the scenes, despite shared character names, don’t have to be connected? 

Churchill’s invention provides a trio of dystopian visions, each scary and increasingly bizarre, held in tense suspension with one another. 

First there’s a trip to the proverbial woodshed, then a workshop producing hats for a judicial display. Finally, we see the world at war in a peculiar fashion. This is political turmoil that straddles allegorywith prescient fears in a unique fashion.

Of course, Churchill didn’t invent dystopian dramas, and she uses Orwellian overtones expertly. But it’s easy to see how influential this text from 2000 has already been. The mix of sci-fi with macabre touches means the play hasn’t dated a jot. And this production does the text proud.

Lizzie Clachan’s set combines simplicity with theatrical surprises. The sound design from Christopher Shutt will give you goose bumps without being ostentatious. And director Lyndsey Turner admirably resists the temptation to spin out the stories. The only extravagance is the use of supernumeraries, drawn from the Donmar’s ‘Take The Stage’ programme, who do a great job. But their appearance is brief. There’s a recurring theme here – a respect for Churchill’s marvellous economy.

Far Away at the Donmar Warehouse
Aisling Loftus and Simon Manyonda

Take the characters that we meet, so briefly and in such complex circumstances. Turner’s cast is superb in creating a sense of ordinary individuals no matter how removed from us the situations seem. Jessica Hynes, Aisling Loftus and Simon Manyonda provide just enough glimpses into the everyday lives of the roles they take. While appearing respectively as Harper, Joan and Todd twice, the characters change dramatically, revealing extraordinary skill from the actors and creating incredible tension. That such richness can come from such austerity really shouldn’t be possible! Churchill’s writing is breath taking – every line in Far Away works close to the bone.

Until 4 April 2020

www.donmarwarehouse.com

Photos by Johan Persson

“Salmon” at the Vault Festival

Eve and Sea Productions, created by Eva Lily and Constance Eldon McCaig, tackles themes of grief, depression and drug use with its premier show. It is an insightful piece that boasts a strong performance but loses its way with surreal touches.

Angus, devastated by a recent bereavement, is a well-drawn character and the details of his life on a Scottish island are convincing. Joshua Going’s delivery of the role deserves praise. Here’s a recognisable young man, now a little too old to party, dissatisfied with the options on offer if he wants to grow up. Going shows confusion, desperation and anger, while making the metaphorical mentions of Angus’ favourite fish (arguably overused) an endearing obsession. The delivery is bold – showing strong directorial decisions – as Angus stumbles physically and mentally trying to remember a recent past while lost in a drug- and grief-induced haze.

It’s understandable that the script contains crazed moments, not a bad idea in itself, but unfortunately the delivery of trippy panic or anxious paranoia causes problems. There are technical issues (the voiceovers are difficult to hear). And it doesn’t help that both performers joining Going, Eden Hastings and Ben Spring, double up roles that are so different. While overlapping conversations work well, showing a talented team, too many superficial touches, from sound design to costume, feel predictable. Trying – but not quite managing – to be crazy creates a disappointing aftertaste to a play that has potential.

Until 14 February 2020

www.vaultfestival.com 

"The Incident Room" at the New Diorama Theatre

If you are a lover of true crime stories, you’ll lap up this show. An in-depth retelling of the Yorkshire Ripper case that gripped Britain in the late 1970s, the detail is fascinating and the story compelling. But there’s more to Olivia Hirst and David Byrne’s play – an intelligent engagement with history makes their work the very best of its kind by questioning the genre it is part of.

Hirst and Byrne condense events with skill, but their real triumph is in imposing focus on the story by highlighting police work and effectively ignoring the killer. The raw material is fascinating: the lengths the police went to over tyres, bank notes and the sheer number of people interviewed.

Yet what provides the driving force for the show is the tension of working a case that is massive and inventive – apparently changing police procedure – but was ultimately a famous failure. Aided by excellent live video work, designed by Zakk Hein, and a Kafkaesque set from Patrick Connellan, Byrne, along with Beth Flintoff, directs with discipline. The action – in reality slow, boring, work – becomes engrossing and the impact of events powerful.

The Incident Room at the New Diorama Theatre credit The Other Richard

The precision creates characters a long way from your average crime drama, surely aided by the fact that the show is devised by its ensemble. A cracking cast rises to the material with solid performances. As police under pressure Colin R Campbell, Peter Clements, Ben Eagle and Jamie Samuel are all good, creating an impression of a tight team with conflicts big and small managing to inject a surprising amount of humour. But Hirst and Byrne are relentless and focus further.

For The Incident Room has a steely eye on both sexism and the responsibilities of telling stories of this kind. Parallel instances of women in a men’s world reflect both of these concerns. A female journalist, played with winning presence by Natasha Magigi, who sees the chance for a big break, provides commentary while piling on the dramatic pressure. Meanwhile, detective Megan Winterburn, ignored for promotion and doing far too much typing, narrates events in a very special fashion. As Winterburn re-enacts the case in her mind (as if she were rewriting the story, like the playwrights) we see how what she could have done haunts her. Hindsight reveals how traumatic the case was for the police involved. It makes a star role for Charlotte Melia, who gives a magnificent performance.

The Incident Room knows that its subject matter treads a fine line between truth and “titillation” and is careful to address the victims of the Ripper’s crimes. Here the skill is to continue to reflect those concerns about story telling in such a sensitive, honest, fashion. With a woman who survived an attack, Maureen Long, the wish is to be forgotten. Fearing she will be forever defined by her victimhood, an address to the audience, delivered with passion by Katy Brittain, who takes the part, serves as a powerful theatrical moment characteristic of a show marked by both brains and sensitivity.

Until 14 March 2020

www.newdiorama.com

Photos by The Other Richard

“Faustus: That Damned Woman” at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre

We know that Faustus, who famously sold his sold to the devil, makes for a good story. It’s been told often enough. This new version from playwright Chris Bush is a mixed bag, but it does a lot with the tale’s potential, and modern twists make the story approachable and intriguing.

Changing the gender of the protagonist is a good start. The show provides a star role for Jodie McNee who plays Johanna Faustus with gusto. She’s ready to spar with Satan as much as sign Beelzebub’s book, and sexism becomes the big evil in the play.

Part of Johanna’s motive for her diabolic bargain is to be independent – to be her own woman in 17th-century London. Cue witches, corruption and the plague. Bush sets up an entertaining story with interesting ideas.

Director Caroline Byrne does a good job creating an exciting atmosphere, handling historical flavour well. There’s strong support from Katherine Carlton, Alicia Charles and Emmanuella Cole. Line Bech’s costume design also deserves a nod.

But things start to go awry with the show’s humour – there’s a playfulness with the past that doesn’t always work. The jokes are good, but dilute the tension too much. Take Mephistopheles, the devil contracted to serve Faustus: Danny Lee Wynter does well with the wit in the role, but that wit doesn’t help the play as a whole.

A further big idea is sounder – Faustus has a plan to “save the world to shame the devil”. It’s never clear how selfish our heroine is; Bush and McNee do well to keep this question open. But, of course, doing good isn’t easy, and the show becomes more a wait to see what will go wrong. While the passion that drives Johanna has an interesting origin, her anger becomes abstract and simply isn’t hot enough.

As the action moves into the future and starts to engage with technology, this coolness increases. The play gets less surprising and at times a little silly. Messing around with Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Marie Curie turns into a diversion rather than a serious point; GM foods and minds uploaded into the cloud follow too quickly. The latter is intriguing in a play obsessed with souls (a tricky topic in 2020) but needs fuller development.

“Wait” is the show’s final word. And I like the way it’s given to Johanna. But by that point it feels as if we’ve seen enough, and Bush hasn’t managed to inject any sense of peril about what might come next. An order to the devil is appropriate for this feisty Faustus – but it’s a damp squib of an end for a play that wants to be fiery.

Until 22 February 2020

www.lyric.co.uk

Photos by Manuel Harlan

“On Arriving” at the Vault Festival

Given its subject matter of refugees, this monologue from Searchout Theatre is sure to be powerful. The topic, which has led the company to partner with the charity Refugee Action, is an increasingly pressing concern. But the show also deserves attention as theatre: convictions aside, its execution has to be the focus for review, and the show is exceptionally strong on many fronts.

The painful decision taken by a young woman to leave home, not once but twice, is explored, and we hear of perilous journeys and camp life. Yet Ivan Faute’s skilfully written script is surprisingly understated. Despite the horrors undergone, observations have a reasonableness about them that creates a consistent voice – a tone that is engaged, credible, and indicates in-depth research on the part of Faute. Where our unnamed refugee is coming from or going to isn’t stated. Instead of politics, the rich details in the show are thoughts and feelings.

Sophia Eleni in 'On Arriving' credit Steve Gregson
Sophia Eleni

Director Cat Robey’s close appreciation of the text values its intelligence. It would be so easy to make On Arriving relentless, but there is a degree of abstraction from the character that gives us space to think. The many questions and observations highlighted challenge just as much as they create sympathy. Our subject can still analyse and empathise, no matter how awful the situation.

Of course, the play contains traumatic drama. The scene of a boat crossing is particular intense, almost uncomfortably so, in creating a sense of claustrophobia. Special praise goes to the play’s performer, Sophia Eleni, who does an exceptional job of conveying incredible tension while making the action so clear. Throughout, On Arriving is a huge achievement for Eleni, and surely an emotionally draining experience. Each scene is presented with care for its particular concerns: the mix of pain and anger, anxiety for the future and reminiscence about the past are carefully considered and explored. Such detail and complexity create agency for a character so cruelly denied just that degree of care.

Until 9 February 2020

www.vaultfestival.com

Photos by Steve Gregson

“In My Lungs the Ocean Swells” at the Vault Festival

New writing is always a bit of a risk, not least for the brave creatives who put their work forward. Understandably, not all offerings land and this piece, a coming-of-age story and a tale of life in a fishing community, flounders.

Writer Natasha Kaeda has her heroine, Julie, move to the city while childhood sweetheart Simon tries to continue the family tradition of being a fisherman. The romance is sweet enough and initially there are some nice touches about growing up near the sea. But the stakes seem too low for their author and elements of allegory, politics and the environment are flirted with.

Unfortunately, none of these additions convinces and the delivery from Jack Brownridge-Kelly and Jenny Walser isn’t confident enough to save the day. With a style that’s vaguely declamatory, and some uneven accents, director Tash Hyman needs more guidance for the cast and more ideas about how to deal with the traverse staging.

There are moments when the ocean of the title feels like a real presence that show Kaeda has promise. But her talents are submerged in confused dead ends. An interesting idea of ‘sea people’ desperately needs developing. And there’s too much stumbling over details – I was confused as to when the play was set (when did people last leave school at 15?). And a bizarre nostalgic feel needs further explication: does Simon really believe his industry should carry on unchanged? Especially when he has recounted (too often) how things are different now.

Sad to say, things get worse. Far more care needs to be taken with an ending that includes a desperate act. As the festival’s content warning points out, the show has an ‘abstract reference to suicide’ but – while I am sure it is not the intention – the handling of the subject is so brief that it could be described as glib. Reactions to events certainly need more explaining in order not to appear horribly dismissive. Overall, the impression is of a piece that doesn’t know what it wants to do, stumbling into clichés, over reaching and running out of time as result. Kaeda casts her net wide, hinting at too much, and ends up catching nothing.

Until 9 February 2020

www.vaultfestival.com

Illustration by Madison Clare

“The Book of Mormon” at the Prince of Wales Theatre

As a contrast to the fringe productions I’ve been enjoying lately, I treated myself to a West End show. Hits don’t get much bigger than this one from Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone, which has run in London since 2013. It’s a piece that excites people who don’t normally go to the theatre, let alone to musicals. And, generally, you don’t hear a bad word said about it… although that might change here.

Billed as the funniest musical of all time, its idea seems to be that the creators of South Park and Avenue Q insult everyone equally and so their offensive jokes are OK. OK? It’s true that in this story of Mormon missionaries in Uganda the topics of religion, Americans abroad and African corruption are all targets. And the show is funny.

For crude jokes, The Book of Mormon can’t be beat, with gags around taboo topics and the inhibitions and aspirations of its teenage heroes. There’s little effort to give the characters depth (kind of a joke as well) but the plot is effective – a simple journey of self-discovery – leading to strong roles for the leads, Price and Cunningham, that Dom Simpson and Tom Xander revel in.

The show has its smart humour, too. Focusing on something religion and theatre have in common – imagination – is a clever move. As Cunningham rewrites religion, winning converts as he tailors a new narrative, we end up with that most traditional of musical devices – a show within a show – that’s very good indeed. Choreography from Casey Nicholaw (who co-directs with Parker) is especially good (and funny) often aiding the story as well as getting laughs.

So why reservations? Humour is subjective, although I’m surprised more people aren’t uncomfortable with the material here, no matter how tongue in cheek. And it’s clear the show doesn’t quite know what to do with its female lead (although Leanne Robinson works hard in the role). But for me, it’s bite that is really lacking, making the satire predictable, cold and calculated.

Just naughty enough to provide a frisson of excitement, even if it does contain some cruel truisms, The Book of Mormon’s box office surely indicates it’s a long way from radical. There are more challenging musicals, with smaller marketing budgets, even if plenty were inspired by this one. Given its London home, you might recall Jerry Springer the Opera? I’m sure someone has written a compare and contrast. With the exception of the number ‘I Am Africa’, attacks are simplistic and the final see-it-coming-a-mile-off gag reveals a show just preaching to the choir. With no self-deprecation or challenge, and an eagerness to poke fun at easy targets, it’s possible that the last joke of the night is on the audience.

www.thebookofmormon.com

“The Legend of the Holy Drinker” at the Vault Festival

It’s a bit of puzzle as to how political HUNCH Theatre wants its adaptation of Joseph Roth’s novel to be. Efforts are made to establish the story of Andreas, a homeless alcoholic immigrant, in the here and now. But the story itself is close to a fable, with timeless qualities that fight with rooting it in London in 2020. Working with this tension, a talented team has created a thought-provoking show full of theatrical invention.

You have to suspend disbelief. A series of “miracles” mean that Andreas is gifted cash – only to drink it away again and again. It takes us to big issues about charity, alongside which the text engages with religious themes. Just as impressive is the central role – a complex, naturalistic, character despite being within such a fantasy. Andreas has plenty of faults so that it’s (too) simple to condemn what he does with his life, let alone the donations. But he is also easy to understand. With the desire to be “honourable”, the balance between circumstances and victimhood are deftly explicated. It’s a fine line walked by Oleg Sidorchik, who takes the lead role with great skill: he has to be a stage drunk, something of a clown, a man manipulated by his own jealousy and prone to violence, but with a moving back story, good intentions and weaknesses. Sidorchik manages to convey it all – bravo.

Similar praise is deserved by the whole cast – Oliver Bennett, Ed Davis, Emily Houghton and Eva Mashtaler – as this is a true ensemble piece. Acting as narrators as well as extra characters, they create a special atmosphere for the story: elevating its simplicity with a sense of fun. Bennett commands attention from the start – opening up questions about the motivation of the businessman who hands out cash. Both Houghton and saxophonist Davis manage to inject humour with the smallest lines and gestures, while Mashtaler proves impressive on a Segway… while she is performing as the sculpture of a saint.

Yes, that’s right, The Legend of the Holy Drinker, which includes a starring role for Saint Teresa, has many surreal, possibly alcohol-fuelled, moments. And they lead to a lot of memorable theatre. Director Vladimir Shcherban forefronts the movement skills of his cast, uses sound effectively, and has a brilliant eye for the simple use of props. What the team achieve with some plastic sheeting, cardboard boxes and coloured umbrellas is great. And it’s also appropriate. Such refined theatricality via lo-fi methods parallels that tension between complexity and simplicity – impeccably balanced by an intelligent and careful company.

Until 2 February 2020

www.vaultfestival.com

"The Wild Unfeeling World" at the Vault Festival

This year’s arts extravaganza under Waterloo Station got off to a fantastic start for me with Casey Jay Andrews’ gorgeous one-woman storytelling show.

Presented as a “reimagining” of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick,in some sense the damp subterranean venue is, for once, a useful setting for a story that involves so much water. With some cute audience participation, Andrews isn’t afraid of getting wet – and you might even imagine the roar of trains above you is the sound of the sea. By her own admission, the treatment of the classic is irreverent. There’s plenty of creativity and humour in its emotional subject matter and this show boasts that magical combination of wit and wisdom.

The Wide Unfeeling World is actually the story of Dylan, a young woman down on her luck and having a manic episode. Captain Ahab, the obsessed whaler in the book, happens to be a three-legged cat pursuing our heroine because of a road accident. Got a problem with that? As crazy as it sounds, Moby Dick and mental health are an appropriate match. And getting to a kernel of the book ends up providing insight about a lot more than literature.

The telling of this new tale is special, too. There’s an intriguing balance between the character, with her “noisy mind”, and Andrews as a narrator with a fertile imagination. Through her skill, we come to care for them both. Elements of fantasy (including a wonderful morsel about Dylan’s sketchbook) are carefully rooted in snippets of science and the everyday. It’s interesting – I loved the idea of ‘desire lines’ in the landscape – and has a journey rooted in the reality of the city: safe to say most festival-goers will recognise the atmosphere and geography of the London depicted.

With fantastic charisma and a great deal of warmth, this is a simple show of sophisticated storytelling. The script is a blissful mix of poetry and approachable asides and the delivery wonderfully paced. The tone is caring and sweet, but never shies away from the reality of how tough life can be. The result is a funny and particularly intimate experience to learn from and reflect upon.

Until 1 February 2020

www.vaultfestival.com

“Persona” at the Riverside Studios

Closed for the last five years due to a major redevelopment, it’s a warm welcome back to Hammersmith’s fantastic arts centre. The newly spacious foyer is needed for everything that’s going on – films, music and cabaret as well as theatre. The refurbishment is tasteful but not flashy, as is the food on offer. And the drinks coasters are sweet. First up for play-goers is Paul Schoolman’s credible adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s film, which has the earth harp as a surprise factor in its success.

While there are pleasant projections throughout the show (courtesy of P J McEvoy), it’s a smart move when bringing a famous film to the stage to focus on sound rather than sight. With its strings stretching over the audience, the earth harp (played by William Close on the night I visited – and by Catrin Meek by the time you read this) makes an extraordinary noise. How it works, especially when the body of the instrument is used, is beyond me, but it has a special theatricality, and going along just to hear it is highly recommended.

What’s going on next to the harp is worth watching, though. The story is presented by Schoolman as a retelling of Bergman’s script, including some notes, guaranteeing interest for cinephiles. Alice Krige and Nobuhle Mngcwengi give strong performances as a nurse called Alma and her patient, Elizabet, an actress who has willed herself into silent paralysis. Bergman’s psychologising has a dated air and, if you wanted to see it as ultimately reductive (both women’s troubles seem to boil down to maternity), then I might not argue. But that doesn’t detract from Krige’s achievement in creating a character we come to feel so close to. The same goes for Mngcwengi, who conveys her role while speaking so little.

While there aren’t real conversations in Persona, the interactions are far from one-sided. As Alma reveals her darkest secrets, Schoolman’s narrator and Elizabet absorb them like a spooky Greek chorus. Recalling that ‘persona’ is a term for a theatrical mask, all three characters play with the roles they adopt and abandon. It may just be mind games or the human condition stripped back and given a theatrical flourish, but it shows strong work from Schoolman as a director – and Krige does especially well to present the artificiality of what’s going on with a natural touch.

Fascinating as it is, this journey into the “landscape of the mind” isn’t for everyone and has a wilfully opaque air. You can credit Schoolman for preserving the feel of Bergman’s film while managing to make it work theatrically – well done. But that still isn’t a guarantee you’ll enjoy it. By the time we get to the women referred to as “I, me, us, we”, as their identities slide and elide, no matter how good a job the team does, such destabilising of the ‘self’ may start to confuse more than excite.

Until 23 February 2020

www.riversidestudios.co.uk

Photo by Pamela Raith