(4.5 / 5)

Before this performance, it felt different to other things I have seen and reviewed because I didn’t have any expectations prior, and I didn’t feel a certain kind of energy from the audience, so I had no idea what to expect from this show. I also couldn’t make any notes when I was there, I was so engrossed that I couldn’t put anything into words.

It was based 8 months after the Aberfan disaster of 1966, which, if you don’t know, is when there were colliery spoil tips created on a mountain slope which collapsed, and it very sadly crashed into the school and surrounding homes. 116 children and 28 adults died. The play is about mothers who meet once a week in a support group, and it explores how different mothers are affected/ how they are coping with the grief of losing a child to this disaster, and a particular week where a woman from Revlon volunteers to come to Aberfan to give a makeup/ beauty demonstration to these mothers.

This was a riveting and powerful performance. There wasn’t any projection or lighting changes, which I think fitted this play because it removed the fluff and made you focus on the root. All they had was the sound effect of water dripping, as there was a leak in the building. This was powerful in itself because it symbolised the tension and grief, it symbolised the loss and it symbolised their states of melancholy.

Each character came across as strong and dealing with the grief in their own way. Sian had lost her son and her husband didn’t want to look at her after she caught him sobbing, and she wanted a child. She kept quite optimistic and was a try to keep the peace character. Marilyn kept hoping and couldn’t quite believe that her children wouldn’t ever come back. Rona swore a lot and was very abrupt, and she was looking to move out of the town with her husband because, as we later learnt, she couldn’t face seeing the other mothers around the town, couldn’t face the grief that was permanently etched on their faces. Jean was pregnant (she thinks she became pregnant a few days before the disaster) and she had a surviving daughter, but her son who she was sure would have gone places and travelled far, died in the disaster as he was in the school at the time. She resents her daughter because on the day of the disaster, her daughter had said she was sick so didn’t go into school, and at a later date her daughter had gone out to play and complained that there was no one to play with, so she resents how her daughter seems to complain a lot and is not appreciative that she is alive, but also because she seems to have favoured her son whom she lost rather than her daughter who was kept alive. I believe the character subconsciously would rather her son be alive than her daughter because she knew her son would travel and make an impact in the world, whereas she knew her daughter wouldn’t do anything, just stay in the town when she grew up. The way that Jean copes with the disaster is to believe that God had a reason for wanting all those children to be by his side, whereas Rona completely disagrees with this, and isn’t afraid to voice her opinions.

The only fragile thread that ties these women together is that their children died (in a preventable accident), and there is no way that they would come together in this way if the disaster hadn’t have happened. By the end, they were a bit closer because they understood how each other was dealing with the grief.

For me, I couldn’t relate and empathise with these characters as much as a parent would, I think, because a parent can certainly relate to the Aberfan mothers in as much as the thought of living in a world where your child has passed away seems impossible, whereas for me, I don’t think it impacted me emotionally as much as it might in the future after I have a child, because I can’t feel the same feeling as a mother, however I was still able to sympathise.

The character that came from Revlon I think was also quite integral to the story, because it was her coming that brought their feelings up, and brought them together by the end. The character (referred to as Revlon in the duration of the performance except at the end where she is revealed to be Charlotte) had a secret that related her slightly to these women. She went through losing a brother and seeing her mum deal with the grief after he died. The only way her mum could face the world is putting some makeup on, and Charlotte helped her mum when her hands were shaking so much that she couldn’t put her lipstick on. She originally volunteered to go to Aberfan and give a demonstration because she thought she could help these women feel better, but once she was there, she tried to back out because she realised how naïvely she had thought these women could feel better with makeup, but how could makeup, how could anything help these women feel better? In the end, we realised the answer; they just needed something to help them face a different world and to support each other.

(4 / 5)

When I think of Shakespeare, the words that spring to mind are ‘funny, ‘witty’, ‘sharp dialogue’, ‘a roller-coaster journey’ and 440 Theatre certainly deliver on all of those and add a sprinkle of magic in their own unique and charismatic way.

Shakespeare is wonderful, but sometimes it can drag out a tad, with plays commonly being three hours or so. No so with 440 Theatre! They have taken something brilliant and offer the audience the highlights, with each play being just 40 (ish) minutes. Two Shakespeare plays and an interval for your ice cream in under two hours? Done and dusted!

A simple set, costumes and small cast of just four actors (Luke Thornton, Amy Roberts, Lizzie Robin and marvellously acted and directed by Dom Gee-Burch) brought us this, quite frankly, unique but highly effective take on the two well known plays. There was singing and guitar playing (a special mention to Roberts for her incredible voice and Thornton for bringing comedy gold to the songs), an abundance of wigs, a very clever use of umbrellas and gags-a-plenty, to make sure that the laughter didn’t stop. Gee-Burch was stand out in his various roles, never failing to be deliver hilarity, whether playing the friar, nurse or any one of the three weird sisters. His presence lit up the stage and he truly stole the show. His comedic genius shone through, and his timing was impeccable. Every single one of the actors gave their all and must have been exhausted by the end after maintaining such high energy and not faltering throughout.

First up, the tale of two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet; never was a story of more woe (and hilarity, true farce and an interesting case of rigor mortis!) and who knew it was all Pat’s fault? Pat, the character Shakespeare forgot to mention (you’ll need to go along and watch 440 Theatre to see how that story unfolds).

Swiftly followed by Macbeth – very obviously the Scottish play thanks to the tartan sashes, wigs and a hint of Taggart (‘there’s been a murrrrder!’). Brilliantly acted, traitorous goings on, dancing ghosts and full of farce. I particularly enjoyed the nod to the Tesco clubcard savings. Again, Gee-Burch shone in his many parts, particularly as the three weird sisters. Thornton’s reactions to them certainly demonstrated how the natural talent of Gee-Burch continually surprises and delights, even to his fellow actors along with the audience.

This is a surprising re-telling of Shakespeare that I recommend you experience for yourself. It is full of surprising comedy moments to catch you off guard and while that was mostly really good fun, it could be a little jarring if slapstick humour is not your particular cup of poison. Watch out for each death scene being milked to the absolute, well, death!

This is an exceptionally special, hilarious, speedy tour of two of Shakespeare’s arguably greatest plays. High energy and thoroughly good fun, a must see if you love the Bard (and especially if you yearn for slightly shorter renditions of the world’s greatest literary works).

Running time: Approximately 2 hours (including 15-20 minute interval).

(3 / 5)

(Please note this review features an overview of the productions plot)

Choo Choo is a play that is said to give ‘an entertaining exploration’ about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, intrusive thoughts and ableism. It is a collaboration between Nye Russell- Thompson (writer and performer), Nerida Bradley (writer and director), and is co-written by Duncan Hallis (also performer) and Tafsila Khan (also assistant director).

Before the play, you could hear owls hooting and snoring, you could see a character seemingly sleeping stage right (Laura Goulden, one of the BSL interpreters, I found out later), a yellow chair and a red chair on either side of a small table in the middle, a small radio on top, and some cubed lights in the background- the amount of lights not evenly shown so perhaps this could give us a sense of uncomfortability from the start.

The start of the play saw two characters (Nye and Duncan, one dressed in a yellow top and red dungarees and the other dressed in a blue top and yellow dungarees) come on, yawn, and start their wake-up song. There was a lot of comedy in this play, even from the start, and the characters seemed a bit childlike, although they lived together and they discussed darker themes of intrusive thoughts, being that the basis of the play was Nye’s character was getting thoughts about killing his best friend. There was repetition in their daily routines and rhyme in the song, and they played games with each other all day, from the radio. On the other hand, there was also a lot of darker, adult themes with pregnancy, dying, violence, game/ talk shows (that included audience participation!) and more.
The story saw them going through the day, playing games, Nye getting intrusive thoughts, singing the same song the following day but Nye doesn’t feel as happy as normal because of the intrusive thoughts he had last night. Then playing a game as a talk show getting requests from listeners/ audience members, and Nye gave a request to Duncan disguised as an audience member, to explain his intrusive thoughts and what should he do about it. With Duncan then replying saying he was a bad person and he should feel guilty etc, which made Nye feel even worse.

There is radio static at home before they go to bed, of Nye hearing a train get louder and the lights getting brighter, before the new day, which is the day that they are supposed to go on holiday together. Nye doesn’t want to come (he has been trying to isolate himself because he doesn’t want to do anything to hurt Duncan) and so Duncan goes to the train station (for the holiday) by himself, and the train is delayed. The Transport for Wales announcement tells him about intrusive thoughts and OCD, and how his friend is feeling, and then Nye appears at the station. Nye and Duncan hold onto each other over the platform edge, as Duncan is reassuring him that Nye won’t hurt him. They end the show by demonstrating how intrusive thoughts are okay to have, and you shouldn’t be scared of them making you be a bad person, because they are just thoughts, and we are not our thoughts. This is shown through them saying an intrusive thought, like putting the iron over your hand, pushing someone over the edge of the train platform, and the audience would clap if they had ever had that thought.

I enjoyed that there was a lot of comedy in the show and it was light-hearted when Nye wasn’t worrying about hurting his friend, but I didn’t see how it was about ableism and linking to OCD. He was starting to isolate himself, not leave the house, and I can see how intrusive thoughts link to OCD, about how people with OCD can think that they have to do certain things otherwise bad things will happen to people they love, but I don’t see where that fits in, in the show. It had promising writing, but the themes weren’t hard hitting in my opinion, as compared to the other shows I have seen and reviewed were I felt affected and emotional coming out of it.