25 – 27 May
Looking around the packed audience at the Wardrobe Theatre, seeing all the smiles of expectation and the oh-so-hearty laughter one could be in no doubt that the chums and course-mates had assembled to launch a clutch of graduands onto a curious and sympathetic public. With inchoate careers in the balance the wary reviewer must tread on eggshells lest sensitive egos are inadvertently bruised. Joy of joys then to find I could immediately relax and for the next two hours or so (the bill is for two separate hour or thereabouts one-acters) slip into my punter-cum-reviewer frame of mind knowing I was in good hands. Yes, this was as good a display of acting as one could hope to find in any of our major theatre companies. I hope an army of agents have made the journey from their busy London offices. (The theatre is a five minute taxi ride from the station!)
So to the plays: the first is Elinor Cook’s anatomy of a lifelong relationship between two Geordies (I was convinced) Lorna (Georgia Cudby) and Grace (Petra Joan-Athene). Weaving their way through the lives of the girls are a number of boys and men, all played with precision by Kurtis Thompson.
Out Of Love explores how inherent qualities and talents are moulded and/or thwarted by events and the way that the slings and arrows of life affect and test to near destruction a close friendship – a bond formed during the navigation of the vicissitudes of life.
From the moment the two girls bounce, freshly minted, onto the stage any potential silliness from young women playing infants is quickly banished as they play with belief and not for laughs. The director, Lydia McKinley, has ensured the comedy is in the dialogue and needs no further shove from the actors. But this is by no means a comedy and the early stirrings of sexuality, disappointments in love, careers, education and the inevitable chasm of loss are all given emotional clarity by the two actresses.
No less a chameleon is Mr Thompson who as play-friend, callow youth, boyfriend, leering interviewer, waste-of-space dad and step-dad, gives a bagful of well-observed and emotionally astute characters. The gear changes of all three actors are the more impressive as the scenes-from-a-life are not treated chronologically. Alice Sales’ setting includes an array of suspended, hoop-shaped lights which, like the arrow in a game show clicks round to fall upon and illuminate an apparently random scene from the lives of the characters.
The second part of the double-bill is Tom Basden’s Holes – a post-apocalyptic comedy about a motley group of plane crash survivors who set about trying to make the best of the situation on their desert island refuge, being, as they suspect, the last survivors of a ghastly, catastrophic, world disaster.
The eager cast set about breathing life into stereotypical characters who are packaged in some well-trodden tropes. Lucy Pascoe gives a well-timed comic performance as a Sloane Ranger unable or unwilling to come to terms with the reality of her situation. Tom Canavan weaves a careful path as a waste-of-space, cynical lush while Peter Burley’s nice-but-dim, Ian, has some of the best laughs with his foggy enthusiasm. Melina Sinadinou as Erin, is the reluctant Eve upon whom the repopulation of the planet is deemed by Ian to depend.
Director, Lydia Cook, makes sure that the stock characters relate to each other in ways that hint at real life and give a solid backbone to the fanciful scenario. Chen Chen’s set, using the cowling and blades of a jet engine is simple, but highly effective in giving both a sense of place and situation.
If this cohort is anything to go by, British theatre training is still world class and something to be proud of.
★★★★☆ Graham Wyles, 26 May 2023
Photo credit: Craig Fuller
