Tag Archives: Soho Theatre

2016

“Monster Raving Loony” at the Soho Theatre

If you want to classify contemporary playwrights, James Graham is the one that writes about politics. His new play, via the Theatre Royal Plymouth, is engaging and imaginative. Taking as its subject David Screaming Lord Sutch and his political party, which gives the play its name, biography is combined with politics, cultural history and inspiring touches of English eccentricity. The masterstroke is to tell Sutch’s story via famous comedians. It’s a bonkers technique that’s appropriate for its subject and it’s original, funny and brilliantly written.

So, Sutch’s mum is first a pantomime dame. Then, as mother and son plan to open a bric-a-brac shop, she becomes Albert Steptoe. Interviews are conducted on Just A Minute and a visit to the doctor is a Monty Python sketch. It’s quite a carry on – yes that’s there too –  an encyclopaedic journey through comedy masters. In each sketch, Graham is up to the job – he could have written for any of these greats. And it’s all manipulated to tell Sutch’s life story. Wow.

Joseph Alessi & Samuel James Photo Credit Steve Tanner
Joseph Alessi & Samuel James

A demanding play for actors, the impersonations are non-stop and the delivery breathtaking. Samuel James gives a stellar performance as the lead, joined by four others, alongside Tom Attwood whose role as The Musician roots the play. Highlights may depend on your comedy preferences: Joe Alessi’s Alf Garnett is perfection, and how quickly Jack Brown embodies Kenneth Williams and Julian Clary cannot fail to impress. Tellingly reflecting the sexism of the time, the women have fewer pickings. But Vivienne Acheampong does well in a bed-hopping farce and Joanna Brookes is stunning in the male roles she adopts.

James’ performance is the one that requires real depth. Not that this stops a great Frank Spencer impersonation. But there is Sutch’s struggle here as well. Focusing on this fascinating figure is a task slightly at odds with such a high-energy show. Prone to depression and trapped in a public persona, his story gets a little lost despite the skills of director Simon Stokes. Sutch’s suicide seems too much for the play to handle.

Stokes shows fine work when it comes to audience participation – it’s cunning for a director to control this. Such planned fun is always a pet hate (joining in with songs makes my toes curl). But the raffle tickets and bingo cards waiting on seats have a point here that makes them (almost) worthwhile. Another bold stroke from Graham, games typify his novelty and magpie humour in this damnably clever piece.

Until 18 June 2016

www.sohotheatre.com

Photos by Steve Tanner

2015

“Radiant Vermin” at the Soho Theatre

Leave a comment

Although I admire Philip Ridley’s work, and believe that he will be a writer with an enduring legacy, his plays should be approached with caution, as his stories and imagery are as ruthless as they are rich – visceral is the word often used. Ridley’s latest work, Radiant Vermin, emphasises his interest in fairy tales and, taking the housing crisis as its subject, is more overtly satirical than other pieces. Startlingly original, the play is a take on Londoners’ desperation for a home, and proves thought provoking, eminently theatrical and superbly written.

Gemma Whelan and Sean Michael Verey star as Jill and Ollie, “good people” offered the chance to participate with the Department of Social Regeneration through the Creation of Dream Homes. A fairy godmother figure, Miss Dee, says nothing about the supernatural catch – renovations occur when homeless people are killed – linking the housing crisis to bigger societal problems and affording Ridley lyrical scope. Playing both Miss Dee and a homeless woman sacrificed to transform Jill and Ollie’s home, Amanda Daniels gives two great performances. Whelan and Verey also dazzle with multiple roles, including neighbours who move to the gentrified area, performing awe-inspiring verbal gymnastics.

For some, the allegorical quality of Radiant Vermin will be too heavy handed, the tone too preachy and the scenes too long. But Ridley is a writer of excess – fantastical and baroque – who deserves indulgence. The play makes a stark comparison with Mike Bartlett’s Game, sharing subject matter and an outlandish approach. The comparison confirms Ridley’s skills. While Bartlett has huge technical resources, Ridley’s work is presented on white stage. Inspiringly, bells and whistles aren’t needed by Ridley – just the words.

Until 12 April 2015

www.sohotheatre.com

Photo by Anna Soberblom

2015

“Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho” at the Leicester Square Theatre

Leave a comment

Starring in this critically acclaimed show, previously a sell-out at the Soho Theatre and on the Edinburgh Fringe, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is an unlikely cabaret diva. You surely remember how she resigned in favour of Neil Kinnock and repealed the homophobic section 28 after a night out when she became ‘the Queen of Soho’. Maybe not.

Now the lesser-known story of how the lady turned is told with the help of Jon Brittain and Matt Tedford, who bears a passing resemblance to the Iron Lady. It seems that Maggie’s views on the gay community changed after she was mistaken for a drag queen. The show has some of the finest satire you’ll see, using hindsight for all its worth, getting laugh after laugh. There are smutty jokes too, but Mrs Thatcher is firmly in charge, handbagging hecklers and showing suitable outrage at the true blue gags.

Joined by Nico Lennon and Ed Yelland, as Hesel and Tine (geddit?), taking on all the other roles, including the villainous Jill Knight (feel free to boo) and our hero Peter Tatchell, attempts to upstage Mrs T with cut-off denim shorts and handlebar moustaches are fruity but futile. The joy of having 80s pop songs performed by the ex-Prime Minister is irresistible. I never thought I’d say it, and, of course, it’s the delicious irony that the whole show revolves around, but Mrs Thatcher gets my vote.

Until 21 March 2015

www.leicestersquaretheatre.com

Photo by Mihaela Bodlovic

2013

“Even stillness breathes softly against a brick wall” at the Soho Theatre

Leave a comment

Unlike its title, Brad Birch’s new play, Even stillness breathes softly against a brick wall, which opened at the Soho Theatre last night, is a short, terse work. In a spirit of brevity, suffice to say – this is strong writing with much to offer.

A couple, “Him” (Joe Dempsie) and “Her”, (Lara Rossi) live recognisably modern lives – all about technology (Simon Slater’s accompanying soundscape is effectively annoying) and takeaways. There’s nothing new here and, although Birch writes about it well, it goes on a little too long.

The scenario develops with the couple rejecting consumerism and in so doing effectively turning away from the whole contemporary world. It’s a radical fantasy: just saying no. A dream, or nightmare, sure to divide an audience and a bold place for a dramatist to position himself.

It will either disappoint or reassure to find that this breakaway ends up being depicted as a breakdown: the squeezed middle turned screaming and mad. The pressure the successful young couple are under doesn’t move us enough, and reports of war on the news that obsess ‘Him’ are an opaque parallel.

But the play reads very well indeed. Birch started his work by writing a poem, and it shows; the text is layered and the language ripe. Taken off the page with great respect by director Nadia Latif, it’s staged skilfully in a carefully constructed set by Lorna Ritchie that the couple make a right mess off – I pity their landlord.

This is one of those works that makes an effective showcase for acting talent: demanding, intense and requiring intelligent performers. Making an impressive stage debut, Joe Dempsie seems very much at home, a great presence, appealing and charismatic with a natural ability to bring out comic touches.

As his companion, Lara Rossi’s experience, including her excellent performance in Philip Ridley’s play Tender Napalm, stands her in good stead. Rossi suppresses her character’s energy remarkably and deals with the sexually explicit content with the erotic nuance required. Like Dempsie, she establishes a great connection with the audience.

It’s when presenting a couple in love that Even stillness breathes softly against a brick wall is at its most appealing. Birch, aided by the fine performances, writes an engrossing internal dialogue for each character, combined with their conversations and occasional comments to the audience. It’s an exacting evening, but one with plenty of rewards.

Until 14 June 2013

www.sohotheatre.com

Photo by Richard Davenport

Written 31 May 2013 for The London Magazine

2013

“Glory Dazed” at the Soho Theatre

Leave a comment

A hit at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last year, Cat Jones’ new play, Glory Dazed, opened last night at the Soho Theatre. Based on the author’s work with ex-serviceman prisoners in Doncaster, it tells the story of Ray, who returns from Afghanistan in plenty of trouble and finds that his ex-wife and best friend are now a couple. Drama ensues, the scene for which is a turbulent night at a pub lock-in.

The politics is light. Jones’ focus is the human cost of conflict – on the sufferer and his loved ones – rather than the war itself. The result is an intense, intimate, hour-long drama that works well. There are flaws: a young bar maid drawn into events and instantly attracted to the bloodstained, alcoholic Ray is unconvincing, despite being ably performed by Kristin Atherton. And the humour in the piece is problematic, with the drunken vitriol passing for wit, doing nothing to endear Ray to us.

But the dialogue in Glory Dazed really rings true and the actors do well to make the most of it. Both Adam Foster and Chloe Massey, the ex whom Ray used to beat and the friend he intimidates, reveal the depths of their complex, believable characters. Massey is especially bold in dealing with her character’s no-nonsense approach, never shying away from her character’s pain and anger.

Inevitably, Samuel Edward-Cook steals the show as Ray. This is a tremendous performance from a young actor we’re sure to hear more from. Edward-Cook doesn’t just manage to bristle with violence but also conveys the emotional turmoil of his character. His performance, combined with the well-crafted script, makes this an easy one to recommend.

Until 11 May 2013

www.sohotheatre.com

Photo by Carys Lavin

Written 25 April 2013 for The London Magazine

2012

“Boys” at the Soho Theatre

Leave a comment

The young men in Ella Hickson’s play, presumably entitled Boys because of their behaviour, are just what you might expect: crude, boorish and pretentious, with the obligatory stolen road sign and traffic cone in their squalid flat. But Hickson’s writing goes beyond stereotypes. The jokes here are on the boys themselves and the humour serves to heighten Hickson’s impressively unerring sense of the dramatic.

The cast of Boys presents a convincing group of flatmates whose young lives are complicated by a tragic suicide. Danny Kirrane stands out as the “great protector”, raising philosophical questions, and becoming increasingly unstable under pressure. It’s a nice irony that the strongest performances come from the women in the piece: Alison O’Donnell is moving as a “motor mouth” girlfriend and Eve Ponsonby superbly cast as an intelligent graduate in the grips of a moral dilemma.

Despite popping pills and attempting to party themselves into oblivion, the boys fail to have much fun. And anyone older then them isn’t going to be cheered by the fact that all the characters see “the beginning of the end” in their graduation and the world of work. Boys is pretty bleak stuff.

As Hickson broadens her play to take on the topical, there are some heavy metaphors and a series of overlong goodbyes, not helped by some indulgent direction from Robert Icke, which diminishes the piece’s power and makes you wish these boys could grow up a little faster. But why would they want to? Hickson’s point is important – the filth the boys live in isn’t of their own making, the council is on strike and the city rioting. Are the boys simply sensitive souls lost in a generational mire? Possibly your age will determine how you answer that, but it’s a question worth raising and Hickson asks it well.

Until 16 June 2012

www.sohotheatre.co.uk

Photo by Bill Knight

Written 30 May 2012 for The London Magazine