16 – 17 June
I have to admit that on the hottest evening of the year so far, having already been bombarded by another depressing news day, I felt I’d made a bit of a mistake when I’d agreed to review Sugar? – a brand new verbatim play about homelessness. But I was more than pleasantly surprised …
Sugar? has been created by Suspension Theatre (www.suspensiontheatre.org.uk), a not-for-profit company of four women from Bristol who aim to “harness empathy and promote change.” They certainly managed to achieve that and so much more. Sugar? blends verbatim theatre, physical storytelling, original music and live and recorded sound, to create a patchwork of laugh-out-loud humour alongside painfully relatable and beautifully told stories from the homeless who we all pass by in our everyday lives.
Homelessness in Bristol is at an all-time high, and Sugar? was created from extensive interviews with local homeless and non-homeless people. The resulting script played on misconceptions and preconceptions of all those involved. The stories were very recognisable and relatable, gently poking fun at the privileged in our society, whilst laying bare the huge injustices and inequalities. Weighty themes of drug taking, suicide, lack of public services (toilets!) and pointless paperwork and bureaucracy were interwoven with the mundane – favourite biscuits, tea or coffee. Adding to the mix was physical theatre, original music, and song, alongside live and recorded sound. The resulting show had endless energy and was an emotional roller coaster making me both laugh and reflect in equal measures.
The set was minimalist – simply made up of a few wooden crates that could be found on the street, and scenes were grouped into themes using words handwritten on cardboard as pointers. This gave room for really stand out performances from the three young woman – Lily Bearwish, Belle Day and Zoe Vearncombe, skilfully directed by Anne Mowbray, who kept their energy on point from start to finish. They impressively worked as a seamless ensemble – switching from male to female, young to old, homeless to interviewer.
Really clever choreography and physical theatre bought situations to life with wit and pertinence. The use of staccato music reflected the brevity of our daily encounters with the homeless, giving a real feel of the somewhat repetitive and cyclical existence that living on the street entails. I particularly loved the spontaneous rap battles and as the show went on there were brief moments when it almost broke into musical theatre. They even managed to make a hilarious dig at Boris and ‘party gate’ had a mention!
Overall, I felt this show humanised homelessness, and reminded me that the difference between privilege and down-and-out despair is so often just a small change of circumstance – and a lot of luck (or lack of it). Sugar? is a very non-judgemental piece putting the human story first, and despite the subject matter I found it strangely uplifting as humanity and resilience shone through.
I wish the girls big success at the Edinburgh Fringe – and encourage everyone to give up an hour of their time to watch this show. I really hope the audience are moved to donate to Billychip (www.billychip.com), the charity who partnered with Suspension Theatre, and who sell their ‘Chips’ to the public for homeless people to get hot drinks and food in cafes and outlets across Bristol. Most importantly I hope lots of people get to hear these voices of the homeless, seeing them as equals with the same human spirit. In the words of Billychip, we’re “all fabulous and don’t you ever forget it.”
★★★★☆ Rachel Drummond-Hay 17th June 2022
Photo credit: Jack Wiseall
