Tag Archives: Southwark Playhouse

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“Dumbledore is So Gay” at the Southwark Playhouse

Robert Holtom’s short play is, undeniably, niche – the audience demographic is specific. It looks at the youthful experiences of three friends who are Harry Potter fans, so it helps to know the franchise. And the show’s origins on the fringe, at the excellent Vault Festival, are clear, with fun had at the limited cast numbers. But within what some might see as constraints, the piece is strong: focused, solidly written, well-performed and with original touches.

Jack, who is gay, deals with bullying and a girlfriend while having a crush on his best friend. The focus is homophobia (the title comes from schoolyard slurs). Holtom writes insightfully about prejudice, highlighting small insults as well as big threats. An older offstage character called Norman is particularly well thought out. The outcome of the aggression experienced is moving. And, impressively, there is a focus into the damage that internalising hatred can cause.

In case this sounds worthy, it should be stressed that Dumbledore is So Gay is funny (particularly if you’re part of the fandom). The cast are strong comics and director Tom Wright knows this is one of the show’s strengths. There are the “drunken kisses” you might expect, which are sweet. When the actors double up as parents or teachers there’s even more fun. Close observations lead to lots of nodding in the audience.

Now for the twist… Jack can travel back in time (again, something from Harry Potter), so Holtom offers different versions of a coming out and coming-of-age story. Taking the lead, Alex Britt shows subtlety in the variations of this – a smart move. The conceit also means that Jack’s friends Gemma and Oli have characters fuller than might be expected, making strong roles for Charlotte Dowding and Martin Sarreal, who are also superb.

The different scenarios are increasingly positive without feeling forced. The fact that all three characters “deserve to be happy” is plenty – rather than prescribing what that happiness should be. Holtom makes a point of being positive, so you’re sure to leave feeling good. It’s a big achievement for a small show.

Until 23 September 2023

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photo by David Jenson

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“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” at the Southwark Playhouse

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story about a man who ages backwards is brought to the theatre with commendably little fuss. Nothing is unstageable, but the mind-boggling idea here is handled lightly by relying on the great skill of Jamie Parker who takes the title role. And the adaptation has another surprise – the story is now a musical.

The folk music, by Darren Clark, inspired by the Cornish setting of the story, is great. The sound is impressively large, and it isn’t too fanciful to say the sea is the inspiration: the music roars but also comforts, rages and lulls. The tunes have instant appeal and boast moments wistful and toe tapping. The songs do follow a formula that might prove repetitious on a soundtrack but works well live. As for the performances – they are very special.

The show uses a dozen actor musicians who all embrace the chance to show off a variety of characters while sounding fantastic. Such talent often impresses, but I lost count of how many times this lot changes instruments. And the choreography is ambitious too; Chi-San Howard should be proud. Everyone weaves around the stage beautifully in Jethro Compton’s assured direction, working with fluidity and confidence.

The technique of using the cast as narrators is overused, though. And there’s too much detail: telling us the date, or how much time has passed, or highlighting a “chain of events” – each is handled cleverly – but all feature too often. The show’s strong ideas end up tainted by being repeated.

As a contrast, you couldn’t get enough of Parker. Depicting Button getting younger with great skill is never overstated. It’s an emotional performance that aids the show immeasurably. And Parker is helped by his co-stars, especially the strong work from his character’s mother and wife, played by Philippa Hogg and Molly Osborne.

Hopefully it isn’t too much of a plot spoiler to reveal that Button’s mother ends up committing suicide – it’s important to know that the show has dark moments. It could be a problem for Compton’s book that the conclusion is a downer. Button has his unhappy end pointed out to him from the start – defying his father is part of the point. Efforts to show this “little life” as a kind of triumph don’t quite convince, the show’s energy runs down. After such strong work, with so much to recommend it, it is odd to leave the theatre deflated. But the piece is undoubtedly moving and the work here top notch.

Until 1 July 2023

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photo by Juan Coolio

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“Macbeth” at the Southwark Playhouse

Flabbergast Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s tragedy is a brave failure. The show is full of arresting imagery and committed performances – it is bold from start to finish. But a central conceit is hard to pin down and uncomfortably constraining… Macbeth in a madhouse seems close to describing what’s going on. That the idea turns out less interesting than it sounds is a shame, given the tremendous effort of all involved.

Linking Macbeth to insanity isn’t a bad idea. Fits are mentioned, there are famous hallucinations, and the banqueting scene is ripe for such an interpretation. Can the witches be mad? Of course, they’ve been everything else in various productions. And the suggestion that Banquo’s murderer is schizophrenic is a good touch. But the whole idea does, forgive me, straitjacket the play. It’s scary and unpredictable (an achievement of sorts) but it is hard to take the drama seriously as connections between the characters are severed. While the ensemble work together well, the characters seem isolated in individual trauma.

Henry Maynard’s direction is aided by work with movement from Matej Majeka which is often interesting.  The whole ensemble impress, not least with some of their backbends. Everyone is on stage a lot and never loses focus. The musical arrangements from Adam Clifford make great use of percussion and the ensemble are a good choir. The small amount of puppetry that features is worth noting. But every aspect of the show is exaggerated and that turns into a serious flaw.

There are technical problems too. The production fails to consider the venue’s thrust stage so that two thirds of the audience are ignored too often. Above all, hearing what anyone is saying is very difficult. Taking the lead role, Maynard tries hard but it is really only Kyll Thomas-Cole’s Malcolm we get to hear properly. There’s no way you’d know what was going on without a thorough knowledge of the play and while the company can be proud of its energy, that makes the effort here wasted.

Until 8 April 2023

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photo by Picturegrafix

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“The Walworth Farce” at the Southwark Playhouse

Enda Walsh’s crazed and brilliant work has a suitably high energy revival at the hands of director Nicky Allpress. The piece is a great choice for the first show at Southwark Playhouse’s new venue – close to Elephant and Castle and the play’s setting on the Walworth Road.

It’s hard to claim that The Walworth Farce is an evening out for everyone. A family of isolated misfits enacting a story about why they left Ireland, the play has a mad sense of humour that’s deliberately puerile and could easily offend. And the action is confusing, again deliberately, with characters taking multiple roles in therapeutic amateur theatricals while repeating actions in a ritualistic fashion.

“Wonderful work, impressive detail”

As the play within the play happens, there’s fun to be had from Walsh’s script and Allpress shares the playwright’s audacity. The Walworth Farce is a very funny play filled with great insults and colourful language. And it is clear from the start that you can admire the performers here. Their characters are bad actors; performing like automatons, complete with comedy wigs. It takes skill, and courage, to mess around like this. Taking the parts of two brothers, Emmet Byrne and Killian Coyle work at an incredible pace, all the while establishing the affection between their characters that leads to the play’s emotional impact.

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Dan Skinner, Rachelle Diedericks & Killian Coyle

Byrne and Coyle show their characters are damaged and full of fear. Dan Skinner plays their father, Dinny, who terrorizes them, with appropriate menace. And just how scary Dinny is, comes into focus with a fourth role, another commendable performance from Rachelle Diedericks, whose character is accidentally drawn into the father’s dramas.

As the story develops – don’t worry, you do work out what it’s all ‘about’ – Dinny becomes a figure to pity. While it becomes clear the family’s problems start with the patriarch, Skinner has taken care to give the role a kind of charm. Walsh is challenging us as the man is surely a monster? So it isn’t just the story that twists… does our own sense of morality too?

“This story we play is everything”

The Walworth Farce turns into a tragedy. There are grand overtones to the piece as the threat of violence increases. The danger is sure to enthrall theatergoers as it stems from the power of stories and performances: how theatricality can shape our reality, can protect but also trap us. It’s a potent theme for a play and the effect is powerful. After a lot of laughs, and some scratching of heads, the strange world the audience is drawn into comes into conflict with reality in dramatic fashion. The bleak and bloody play is full of tension. Will anyone escape from Walworth? It’s worth a trip to Elephant and Castle to find out.

Until 18 March 2023

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

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“Hamlet” at the Southwark Playhouse

Ricky Dukes and the excellent Lazarus Theatre Company have taken inspiration for their new Shakespearean adaptation from work with acting students. The much-edited play (95 minutes long) is seen only from the perspective of younger characters. The result is surprising, shocking and exciting.

Elsinore becomes a mix of rehearsal room and therapy session. Sorcha Corcoran’s design is constantly rewarding. Alongside Stuart Glover’s lighting, the set is the key to investing such a well-known play with a fresh feel. Given the stripped-back props, and costumes that are sports gear or made of paper, the imagery is fantastic. Lazarus has a knack of creating scenes that burn themselves into the memory. As for including incense, I want some in every production of Hamlet from now on, please.

Remember, the ‘adults’ don’t appear in the flesh. While roles that are of indeterminate age are included (leading to a lovely performance from Kalifa Taylor as one of the players), authority figures are a disembodied voice from above. It’s creepy. Having Micha Colombo issuing sinister instructions and doing such a great job as both Claudius and Gertrude adds a dystopian atmosphere that’s in keeping with Jovana Backovic’s strong sound design.

So, what does this focus result in? The clear generational divide in the source material is highlighted. You need to know the idea and the play well before you go, something I’d normally criticise. But it is evident that the kids are not all right. Mental health – in particular suicide – is the main concern. This might be predictable, but you can’t say it isn’t present in the original. An effort is made to highlight all nine cast members in turn – we sense each deliberating over every action. You are left wanting more (from Alex Zur’s beautifully voiced Horatio, for instance), but the ensemble-led approach brings many thought-provoking moments.

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Michael Hawkey

Appropriately, Michael Hawkey, who takes the title role, embodies the production’s fresh approach and gives a remarkable professional debut. An angry young man who is also petulant, Hawkey’s delivery of the lines is confident and fluid. As a strong foil. Lexine Lee’s restrained Ophelia (I’ll admit this is to my taste) grounds the show. Director Dukes has firm ideas about her death that add to the production’s determined, confrontational approach.

This is radical stuff and, of course, it doesn’t all work. The Mousetrap scene tries too hard to inject humour (although Juan Hernandez and Kiera Murray do a brilliant job). I’m not sure why Yorick’s skull is taken from a fridge? To fit with the clinical feel? The duel is disappointing. Maybe Hamlet’s final action is a touch too far? And it’s a puzzle why Fortinbras isn’t mentioned. But the show raises questions in a prodigious fashion.

It turns out that the “safe space” promised is not delivered. This is Hamlet on a loop – like the circle performers sit in, we can go around again. It’s a chilling nod to the play’s versatility and reinvention. That Lazarus has given us a Hamlet unlike any other is an achievement. That the piece raises so many questions about the play and playmaking itself is astounding.

Until 4 February 2023

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photos by Charles Flint

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“Doctor Faustus” at the Southwark Playhouse

Christopher Marlowe’s play is always a fiendish one to stage – with ‘Enter Devils’ as a stage direction, how could it not be? But this new updated production is excellent and confirms that shows from Lazarus Theatre are must-sees.

There may be rough moments and the show is, literally, messy. But, alongside plenty of blood and a paper-strewn stage, the direction and adaptation by Ricky Dukes is as neat and tidy as you could wish. A hugely impressive number of ideas push the play to its limits and preserve it at the same time.

“Mark the show”

Dukes exploits the theatricality of Marlowe’s text – this is a show full of shows. Faustus learns about space in a brilliant scene that mimics a modern Planetarium display. The famous encounter with the Seven Deadly Sins takes on the air of a burlesque. Oh, and the Pope dances the hokey cokey.

It’s all a bit mad and there’s a surprising amount of humour. The spirits that are conjured up have some singularly effective make-up around their mouths (take note of when it appears) and come and go with a curtain reveal. Even the blood Faustus signs his name with is fake, and no attempt is made to hide that. Which raises the question – does Faustus really get what he has traded his soul for? 

That Faustus might be cheated of his wishes is frightening. Is it all just in his head? And that isn’t the only scary thing about the production (that make-up again!). With some fantastic sound and lighting design (bravo, Stuart Glover and Sam Glossop) as the clock ticks down to the devil claiming his bounty, there is considerable tension. The final scene left me, as well as Faustus, gasping.

“Faustus must be damned”

A lot of the production’s success is down to taking the play’s religiosity seriously (no mean feat, nowadays). Faustus’ denial of God, his refusal to repent despite repeated opportunities, builds magnificently. We have a battle of minds and ego that is used to structure the show. And Dukes puts proper emphasis on what really damns the man – his despair.

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David Angland

All this praise and no word yet on a strong cast… sorry about that. Dukes makes this an ensemble show, with the performers mostly playing a variety of small roles and allegorical figures. If Candis Butler Jones stands out as Lucifer, well, the devil always has the best lines. Hamish Somers and Rachel Kelly also impress as particularly hard working: their appearances as Good and Evil Angels is an essential part of providing a framework for the adaptation.

The shows leads are fantastic. David Angland takes the part of Mephistopheles with a fastidiousness that adds chills. There’s a wicked sense of humour and careful reminders of what’s at stake. As Faustus’ sprit servant, he’s never too familiar – Angland shows an effective contempt for the Doctor. But, of course, it’s Faustus’ show and, taking the lead, Jamie O’Neill could be forgiven for the sin of pride.

O’Neill doesn’t leave the stage during the entire 90 minutes. While managing to convey plenty of awe, as well as passion and fear, this is a remarkably restrained performance. Every movement is measured, and Faustus seldom acts without thinking. And that’s important – Faustus is an intellectual and this is a cerebral play. That this aloof doctor can also connect to the audience and show increasing desperation is a fantastic achievement, making O’Neill heavenly casting for an out-of- this-world show.

Until 1 October 2022

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photos by Charles Flint

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“Yeast Nation (The Triumph of Life)” at the Southwark Playhouse

If quirky is what you want Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis’ show can’t be beaten. A “bio-historical musical” set in primordial soup, its characters really are yeast and the conflict revolves around how they evolve. So, top marks for crazy. The score tries hard and the production is enthusiastic. But the musical is, ultimately, just an oddity.

Credit where it’s due – the ideas are fine. With hints of Greek tragedy and Shakespeare, the oldest yeast (a king, of course) battles against change. As the organisms encounter greed, ambition and love – for the first time in history – the chance to examine abstract concepts is embraced.

Regrettably, adding meta-theatrical touches proves distracting and predictable. It leads to a weak role for a narrator character, who comes too close to a very odd schoolteacher despite valiant efforts from Sarah Slimani. Being both self-consciously silly and serious is an interesting mix, but not a successful one. The joke of taking such absurdity as profound ends up repetitive.

A focus on romance (which buoys the second act) allows the performers who become the first multi-cellular organism (Stephen Lewis Johnston and Hannah Nuttall) a chance to shine. But despite plenty of spirit the show drags. The originality is only single-cell deep – we always know what’s coming next and it doesn’t come quickly enough.

Hollman and Kotis are too keen to tell a “dark tale”. Maybe the fear is that serious questions are needed to justify the bizarre premise? Maybe it’s part of the joke? Either way, the best of the humour comes from the production. There’s strong work from Shane Convery and Mari McGinlay as ‘the Wise’ and ‘the Sly’ as well an unwitting accomplice to courtly intrigue, played by Marisa Harris. All three performances are committed.

It’s director Benji Sperring’s work that shows Yeast Nation in the best light – inventive touches that add charm and fun too often missing from the script and lyrics. Lucie Pankhurst’s work on movement is strong, suggesting amoebas in a fashion that proves oddly hypnotic. In addition, while it probably shouldn’t – and while I can’t explain why – setting the whole thing in Yorkshire adds immeasurably. After all, why not? The accents become the anarchic touch the piece itself craves for but misses.

Until 27 August 2022

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photo by Claire Bilyard

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“I Know I Know I Know” at the Southwark Playhouse

Confidently written and well performed, Flora Wilson Brown’s new play is an intelligent and sensitive examination of sexual abuse. This ambitious work is worth checking out, despite not being an easy play for two reasons.

First, the subject matter is tough. We hear the story of a young woman who was groomed by a pop star, only later revealing the truth now that he is famous. Meanwhile, the musician is travelling to a wedding with an old friend, so the audience sees him in a very different light. It’s a neat way of challenging preconceptions, further aided by surprising humour on Wilson Brown’s part.

With both extended scenes delivered at the same time, I Know I Know I Know is dense viewing that makes demands on the audience. But the results are worth it. The dialogue overlaps in a marvellous fashion. Aided by Harry Tennison’s direction, there are explosive connections from the simplest words. As the moods of the three characters in the piece change, the script has a tense, flowing energy.

I Know I Know I Know isn’t perfect. Victoria Maytom’s set is an unhappy affair that doesn’t help the audience work out what’s going on and seems like an obstacle course for the performers. Anna Short’s sound design is effective but lacks the subtlety of the script. The lighting, from Ryan Day, is more appropriate – drawing the audience in and out of the action with an ebb and flow that fits the piece.

I know I know I know credit Ellie Kurttz
Ethan Moorhouse and Martha Watson Allpress

Wilson Brown’s well-written roles produce great performances. Well done to Martha Watson Allpress and Ethan Moorhouse, who play friends from university whose lives have become very different. They both have their problems. Watson Allpress brings a febrile energy to her role, while Moorhouse reveals his rock star character’s demons gradually. The key is that both are likeable – she has a wit to warm to, and he brings charm appropriate to the character’s success.

It is the victim, Alice, who is the focus of the show, and this proves a triumph for Wilson Brown and performer Hannah Khalique-Brown. There’s a lot of detail about Alice’s trauma; how the affair started and developed as well as how it has affected her. But this is written and delivered with a balanced approach that avoids sensationalism. Alice is a character whose honesty we never doubt (it must have been tempting to introduce scepticism for the sake of drama?). That Alice is still in love with the man who had been so terrible to her is haunting.

Wilson Brown has to skim around some of the interesting points that make her characters well rounded. And the play’s resolution, while emotional, feels truncated. But the piece is weighty and easily intense enough to impress. The age gap between the characters isn’t as great as they themselves seem to think, and that we aren’t dealing with some seedy Saville type is an important point. The play succeeds in bringing fresh insight to an important topic.

Until 16 April 2022

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photos by Ellie Kurttz

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“Anyone Can Whistle” at the Southwark Playhouse

Not even Stephen Sondheim got it right every time. This 1964 musical has the feel of being penned by a tyro, albeit one who is a genius. While responding to a spirit of counter-culture this revival, directed by Georgie Rankcom, adds confusion.

It’s sacrilegious to criticise Sondheim (and rightly so). Thankfully many faults can be allocated to Arthur Laurents’ book. After all, there are lots of good songs here you will probably recognise.

Anyone Can Whistle has a “rundown town” that manufactures a religious miracle for financial gain. But surprisingly little is done with this idea. At the same time, inmates from a mental asylum called, ahem, the Cookie Jar, run amuck. Surprise! It’s hard to tell who is really insane. There’s an odd lack of satire as the show aims to be a parable and ends up simplistic and tiresome.

The production doesn’t iron out the show’s problems (which would be tough). Attempts at audience participation are ham-fisted and the humour poorly delivered (too many jokes are rushed). There’s no sense of place or time and, with accents all over the place, it seems safe to say that’s deliberate. But the piece is stuck in its period, preoccupied with adolescent rebellion, vague protest and forms of therapy.

Rankcom does a good job working with the traverse stage and Lisa Stevens’ choreography is admirably energetic. But the performances are too broad and there are problems with hearing lines clearly enough. What fun Sondheim’s lyrics possess is often lost.

Alex Young, as the town’s mayor, is a notable exception to all the production’s problems. Like her character, Young is a woman who can handle a crowd, and she adds laughs as well as silliness, which helps in a piece that takes itself surprisingly seriously.

Chrystine Symone

Other performances need more nuance – how much this could be injected despite the script is open to debate. Our hero and heroine, J Bowden Hapgood and Nurse Fay Apple, performed with determination by Jordan Broatch and Chrystine Symone, are flat and their romance unconvincing. Is the somewhat flippant view of mental illness that comes with the show’s simplicity the problem? Even if it doesn’t make you uncomfortable, it has repercussions for their love affair that Broatch and Symone’s undoubtable charm cannot save. This too-brief encounter comes across as odd. We only learn catchphrases for characters.

The societal critiques in Anyone Can Whistle and the topic of mental health have an appeal. Rankcom and his cast respond with genuine enthusiasm to challenging the mainstream. It’s nice so see this inspiration. But, as the work itself is immature, the production becomes tarnished with the same quality. Enthusing an audience about such a hotchpotch of ideas, while not exactly needing a miracle, turns out to be a leap of faith too far.

Until 7 May 2022

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photos by Danny With A Camera

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“The Woods” at the Southwark Playhouse

David Mamet’s 1977 play is a romantic drama – just a very fancy one. The script is clever and, in this revival, carefully managed by director Russell Bolam. Allusions are dense, the angst extreme and the sexual politics wretched. If you aren’t a Mamet fan, it can prove tiresome. There’s an easy misanthropy behind the story of a couple falling out of love in a romantic cabin, even if the ideas spouted are highbrow. Is it obvious I’m not sold?

But I’d still recommend this show unreservedly – because the two performances here are fantastic.

Watching Sam Frenchum as Nicholas and Francesca Carpanini as Ruth isn’t pleasant. As a gushing hippy away from the city, she is frankly annoying. Nor does her mistaken idea that ursine partner is “serene” generate much sympathy. Meanwhile, Nicholas’ mansplaining isn’t going to win him many admirers.

The anxiety both characters share is carefully revealed, especially by Frenchum, while Carpanini triumphs in showing Ruth’s desperation. And this is all despite Mamet’s exaggerations… let’s just say that the idea of alienation has a witty twist.

Nobody could make light work of the dark atmosphere Mamet insists on, or the secrets toyed with so effortfully. Nonetheless, these actors – and Bolam – understand the play’s undeniable dynamism. Watching the characters develop and respond to events and revelations is the highlight. Both actors bring intensity to their roles at just the right moments. From who you find more annoying to when you start to get scared, it’s all effective drama and very well performed.

Frencham manages to make the existential speculation here feel as natural as it can, and Carpanini proves an effective foil (it isn’t her fault that her character is only a point of contrast). If The Woods doesn’t move you emotionally, it will still make you think.

A final point of praise seems appropriate and serves as a bit of a spoiler. There is violence in the play and this is brought to the stage with such skill that it should come with a warning (I thought something had gone horribly wrong at one point). It’s overall technically brilliant, undoubtedly impressive, but somehow remains cold.

Until 26 March 2022

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Photos by Pamela Raith