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Review: Twice Over, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, By Hannah Goslin

 out of 5 stars (2 / 5)

With the current climate, and the news of a new, and not much wanted Prime Minister, a political play is just what we need.

Twice Over compares the political climate when our only two women Prime Minister’s have be in office; with the use of two women, both in their 20’s but at different time points (the 80’s and 2017) we see how ideals have changed, how attitudes have changed yet the confidence in politics remaining the same.

This production is very simple; two performers, a guitar, basic lighting and basic set. For something with intricate and complex issues in its narrative, this simplicity is all that is really needed to bring the concept across.

Part poetry, part scripted, part verbatim, I found it difficult to follow.  The writing was interesting and I loved the approach taken, but I couldn’t define the difference in these writing styles and suddenly we would be hearing rhyming couplets, the next an almost political speech. If there was an added dramatic change to these, whether this was performative or even a lighting change,  it would have complimented it more and gave more complexity.

The music was beautiful – again, simple but really effective and gave a nice break to the very hard going narration.

I really applaud the Twice Over production for taking on such an important subject, triumphing women and feminism. There is a way to go with this production, with a little tweaking, it could be a really hard-hitting production. Never the less, with politics in the current times, it is definitely worth seeing.

Review: Ollie Horn, Pig In Japan, Edinburgh Fringe Festival By Hannah Goslin

 out of 5 stars (3 / 5)

Ollie Horn, a young comedian by chance decides to move to
Japan. He has no experience in TV, as an actor or presenter, but almost
overnight, becomes semi famous on Japanese television.

Horn brings his comic styling as well as evidence in the
form of video to tell us about his time in Japan, why he went, what he
experienced and why he was on their tele.

Horn is energetic, in good timing and definitely funny. He
does well to explain Japanese culture but is admittedly still slightly clueless
after admittingly not integrating as much as he should. His antics are nothing
short of what you would expect from the hyper realistic and unusual Japan.

If you have been to Japan, the jokes land a little funnier –
true statements about how clean the country is and the polite interactions of
the Japanese is a general ‘stereotype’ but also rings true; comedy based on
these observations just jumps a little further for the experienced traveller.

His comic timing is on point – bringing a statement to us,
this is often accompanied by a short video clip, sometimes rewound, zoomed in
to emphasise, adding meaning, a purpose and additional laughter; we do not have
to imagine, we plainly see – seeing is definitely believing.

Lastly, Horn interacts with us well – his confidence illuminates his story telling, and while not every gag gets a laugh, he continues a momentum that never stops. Laughter or not, Horn can put on an honest and funny performance.

Review: For All I Care, National Theatre Wales, Edinburgh Fringe, By Hannah Goslin

 out of 5 stars (3 / 5)

Sometimes it’s quite nice to see a celebrity on stage. In Wales, they feel like they are in abundance on the Welsh Theatre scene, with the pool of the industry in this country being small. So it was a surprise to watch For All I Care, and not realising until after that the performer was Hannah Daniel of Keeping Faith fame.

This surprise is a good surprise. I entered the performance
and found myself so engrossed that it was not until I read later on that day of
who she was; a performer who I (only too recently) had just seen in a huge
binge of Keeping Faith series 1 and 2.

For All I Care is a one woman show looking at mental
health, Wales and the magic that is the NHS. Daniel takes on around 6
characters in total – we see majority of the play focussing on the relationship
between Clara and Nyri; two very different women leading very different lives.
Clara is a young woman suffering with her mental health, and attempted suicide.
Nyri is a mental health nurse who tries to help Clara, but she is not totally
altogether herself. Daniel also takes on other intermittent characters such as
Marco, the mental health Doctor, Nyri’s son, Alex the younger man Nyri sleeps
with and ‘The Devil’; Clara’s controlling crime boss.

Daniel does a brilliant job of chopping and changing these
characters – to help with this the basic staging has 3 microphones hanging from
the ceiling. She picks these up when another character comes in to the scene,
into the main character’s story. This creates a barrier; it is so disassociated
and almost hyper-real that it works; it suspends our disbelief and we see that
other person, almost as if another actor had walked in. My only criticism is
that we know Daniel is capable of more, and for me, it felt like there needed
to be more definition of each character, whether this meant more of a physical
change, more pronounced vocal differences or both.

The narrative itself is a fresh take on mental health; with
this once taboo subject being encouraged more into main media and society,
there’s many a play I have seen where the medical professional is clean nosed
and almost angelic. Clara has real problems; real psychological issues. And while
Nyri may not be to this level, her life is not perfect; she still makes
mistakes, she has her own issues and her own past. She is more relatable and
more likeable than other productions that make us almost shake our head at the
lack of realism to a medical character.

For All I Care is a lovely piece; it provides a fresh narrative, and really has the ability to showcase a performer as a solo talent, with some minor tweaking.

Preview: CRAVE by Sarah Kane at The Other Room

As their showcase production of the Professional Pathways Programme at The Other Room, Yasmin and Samantha are presenting Crave by Sarah Kane, at The Other Room running between April 30th and May 11th 2019.

I met up with Director Samantha Jones, Producer Yasmin
Williams and Assistant Director Nerida Bradley to chat about Crave, Sarah Kaneand the Professional Pathways Programme.

Why Crave? Why Sarah Kane? Why Now?

Being completely technical, for the Professional Pathways
Programme I think this is exactly what we needed. There are no limitations, no
rules, no guidance and that’s exactly what we needed from a script as a
challenge and a gift.

When next are we going to get the opportunity to stage
whatever we want with no limitations – Sarah Kane, obviously. It’s exactly the
kind of work we’d like to see more of in Cardiff. The way it plays with form, but
also what it says and what it means to people.

The Other Room opened with Sarah Kane and this play was an
artistic turning point for her career. So, it just felt right, being the first
Professional Pathways Programme at The Other Room and a turning point in our
careers, to stage this play.

There are loads of reasons why this play is relevant now, but
really what’s so great about Sarah Kane is that she’s so real she’ll always be
relevant and so will Crave.

What does
Sarah Kane mean to you as artists and people?

As an artist she’s bold and experimental. Her work is full of
anger, but doesn’t fall into the trap of angst or the box people tried to put
her in. She’s angry but it still feels feminine without the work needing to be
about femininity. Just feminine through the way she uses language. Everything
in the text is earned and the artists involved in her plays have to raise their
game to her level.

As a person, she doesn’t make you feel judged, she just makes
you feel and reflect. She can make you feel anything with her words. When I
first read one of her plays, I had to read the others and read them all in one
sitting. She’s just great.

What’s your
aim with this piece?

Is it enough to say truth? Sarah Kane said, “I write the
truth and it kills me,” so it’s important to stay true to that.

But also, Crave is
written in a way that allows us to play and experiment. She was bold and
experimental in writing this play, so we need to be the same in presenting it
too.

It’s about what it means to be a human, the loneliness that
comes with that, what love is, etc. We all have different perspectives and
feelings in regard to this play, as I’m sure you will when you see it. Everyone
will feel different things as the play is so true it relates to everyone individually.
We want the audience to reflect and feel something about the themes, but more
importantly about themselves.

Samantha Jones, director, speaking to actors.

Sam, considering how open the script is to a director’s interpretation, how are you approaching Crave as director?

Crave is a play
that is always moving and changing as you work on it, so it’s more of a
facilitation process, rather than direction and I wouldn’t have it any other
way.

It’s key working with Nerida, not only as one of the best assistants
around, but as someone who loves Sarah Kane and understands the text in a way
that is different, but just as brilliant, to me. The whole team, including Yasmin
and the actors, the same. The moment someone puts their stamp on Sarah Kane is
the moment the it dies. So, everyone in the room has a voice.

Yas, with
the everchanging, undefined nature of the script and production process, how
are you approaching Crave as
producer?

One of the great things about the Professional Pathways
Programme is that this is the first full-show I’ve produced on my own, and I’ve
been trusted to do so. The experience has sort of confirmed my theory that
nobody really knows what a producer is and it’s an everchanging role in
theatre. But given me confidence in knowing that’s okay. There is no set of rules
for a producer as the job changes so much from show-to-show.

Part of what makes producing Crave so great, is that I have to be involved in the creative discussion to do the job. It might be easier to produce if things were more set in stone, but as the piece is constantly moving forward and growing I need to stay on my toes and get involved in the room. It’s very hands on and it needs to be as I have to stay connected, artistically, to the production.

How have
you found the past year at The Other Room as part of their Professional
Pathways Programme?

The
Professional Pathways Programme has been a great way to step into the world of
professional theatre making. Building new relationships, especially with each
other as this year has just made us want to work with each other more in the
future. Opportunities to work with new writing with things like SEEN and Spring
Fringe Script, working with Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama have also
been super beneficial.

Learning how
a theatre building works and runs, beyond the shows, has probably been the
biggest thing to learn. And now getting to work on whatever play we want, being
able to produce it and put it on for a full-run is the perfect way to end the
year. Overall, it’s been an invaluable experience for both of us.

Nerida, as
you’re on arts placement at The Other Room and assistant director on Crave, how have you seen Yas and Sam
grow over the last year?

They were always capable of doing this. But they’ve just had the chance to prove it. They’ve not just done the job but really added to the discussion and put their ideas forward. In particular they’ve absolutely smashed the year in transforming SEEN and working on Spring Fringe Script amongst other things. It’s just so great that they’ve been given the opportunity and platform to show what they can do as well as learn and move forward.

Actors rehearsing the script.

Crave runs at The Other Room in Cardiff between April 30th and May 11th 2019. Presented in collaboration with the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and The Other Room’s Professional Pathways Programme. You can read more about the production and the Professional Pathways Programme HERE.

Crave by Sarah Kane at The Other Room, Cardiff
30th April – 11th May 2019
Directed by Samantha Jones
Produced by Yasmin Williams
Starring:
C – Emily John
M – Johnna Watson
B – Benjamin McCann
A – Callum Howells
Assistant Directed by Nerida Bradley
Set Designed by Zoe Brennan and Mimi Donaldson
Sound Designed by Joshua Bowles
Lighting Designed by Ryan Joseph Stafford
Stage Managed by Millie McElhinney
Deputy Stage Managed by Emily Behague

Review Top Girls, Caryl Churchill, National Theatre by Hannah Goslin

 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

Upon the National Theatre stage – a stage I only saw a short time ago transformed into a slanted living room, I now see a chic and expensive looking restaurant set.

Coming into celebrate, we meet a whole host of historical female figures – all with their own blood thirsty, unbelievable and hilarious stories, the cross over between the time set play in the 1980’s with much older eras makes this play instantly comical and poignant to the power of women.

In a time of the Me Too movement, and continued fight for equality, a play focussing on how extraordinary women have always been, the struggles the still face and the pressures we experience is not exactly new. But Churchill, having written this 1982, seems to have been way ahead of her time in writing a piece of theatre that we have only really been seeing develop across fringe and west end stages in the last few years. While at the time of Maggie Thatcher; a time where the glass ceiling began to break, we have still found ourselves continuing the fight till 2019. And so Top Girls feels even more inspiring to this day.

The performers, as expected at the NT are impeccable. A beautiful all female cast, not a single male is seen on stage and this emphasises the sheer power of the play.

The first half features these hammed up yet interesting characters – perhaps a little stereotyped – they cover a range of feminist topics that we were unaware that would be an issue in their era. They did try to cross over conversations, perhaps to make this seem more like a natural meal amongst friends than a staged one. I am not sure how much I felt it worked; it was a struggle to tell what each person was saying at different times.

The second half really brought up the sense of family, of growing up and a dysfunctional family and their relationship with one another and men. Again, the interactions were perfect and we felt real emotion in the scenes.

A play that could have easily aged badly, Top Girls is as important as ever – funny, clever and poignant, any female identifying as a feminist needs this play in their life.

REVIEW: Five Green Bottles at Sherman Theatre by Gareth Ford-Elliott

 out of 5 stars (3 / 5)

Five Green Bottles by Joe Wiltshire-Smith debuted for the first time at the 2018 Cardiff Fringe Festival in the basement of Little Man Coffee Shop. After seeing it then, I remember saying, “this is the sort of work I’d expect at the Sherman.” And less than a year later, here we are.

It’s a strange experience watching this play for the second time. It relies so heavily on its audience not knowing the twists for its strengths, so for that reason I won’t be spoiling anything.

One thing that has changed is the ending, which is just as
frantic, but slightly clearer in a subtle way. This is the major improvement
along with the obvious production value that the Sherman’s excellent studio
space offers.

The direction from Becca Lidstone is particularly interesting as she adapts from a coffee shop basement with a small amount of tech to a world-class theatre space. The step-up in production value is obvious – but the content of what was initially presented isn’t lost.

It does seem darker and more sinister than before. I’m unsure
whether that is because I know what is coming and pick up on the small details
or if it’s an artistic choice, but it works.

One thing that is noticeable is the cutting-down of humour. The first time there were more laughs and that could be down to the intimate space of Little Man’s basement. However, it comes across much more mature as the humour is controlled perfectly by Lidstone and doesn’t dominate as much as before.

Becca does a great job of starting the play at face-value and
allowing the subtext do its work, bubbling under the surface to create a darker
tone.

The transitions are full of dance and music which contrasts nicely to the dark undertones and creates a feeling of the 60’s. At times, though, this feels a little out of place, particularly as the play progresses.

Aly Cruickshank’s performance is excellent. With a name like
his, and the accent he puts on, you would think he’s a Scottish native. His
performance really stands out as he presents himself as likeable but holds a manipulative
presence that makes him so hateable.

Angharad Berrow is also utterly brilliant. Her performance is
less sinister than Cruickshank’s and comes across really naturally. Berrow
handles her character with great detail and performs delicately with moments
presented as normal that are truly horrific in the context of the play.

Tobias Weatherburn’s performance is really understated, cold and transformative from the person he is off stage. In particular, the way he handles Dave’s insecurities and desperation for acceptance from other men is phenomenal.

Olivia Martin’s performance is interesting. Her character, Maureen, is snide and laid back. She mostly holds the same dynamic throughout, but the moment she switches is even more powerful for this.

The set from Ceci Calf is really nice and naturalistic, taking us into the 60’s with simplicity.

Garrin Clarke’s lighting design is great. The single light that shines through the window, as if it were the moon, is particularly lovely and the changing of colours is seamless, creating the perfect atmosphere for the moment.

The sound design from Nick Laws is also strong, the use of
music in the transitions set the scene and there seems to be a slight
distortion in said music as the play progresses which is subtly superb.

The script by Joe Wiltshire-Smith is meticulously plotted and
paced with great dialogue, moments of humour and a subtle, dark undertone.

None of the characters are supposed to be likeable, which is important and a good choice, but they do need redeeming or relatable qualities. Dave stands out and is instantly recognisable with clear insecurities which Aly Cruickshank’s character, ‘Neddy’, exploits. Dave’s shielding of himself provides a brilliant and bubbling conflict with ‘Neddy’.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for all of the
characters. This is where we come onto the main issues of the play. The
character of ‘Neddy’ and the purpose of the play.

Neddy’s process and mind are not explored enough, so whilst we see his manipulation of other characters mould slowly and sadistically, his actions by the end are not justified in his own twisted way. This leads to the ending falling somewhat flat and into the second issue.

Why has this piece been written? What does it offer its audience? What does it explore? It doesn’t offer clarity on the history, it doesn’t explore the issue nor the mindset of the characters and isn’t escapism. It’s not a character study and whilst it is well written, directed, acted and designed – after all is said and done there is no takeaway for the audience.

The conversations I had after the play ranged from talking
about the historical facts and questioning the purpose of the play. I’ve seen
technically worse plays that are much more ‘must-see’ because of what they
offer their audience.

Ultimately, this is an incredibly brave story that Joe Wiltshire-Smith has attempted to tackle for his first full-play. For Spilt Milk too. However, there just doesn’t seem to be a focus or point to the piece.

Some will disagree on this and say it doesn’t need a point or
to explore anything. But, that is what separates ‘good’ from ‘great’. A little
more focus and this could be an absolute stellar piece of theatre. As it is,
there’s just something missing.

Five Green Bottles is an enjoyable, brilliantly crafted piece of theatre only let down by a slight lack of purpose.

Five Green
Bottles
at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff
9th – 13th April 2019
Written by Joe Wiltshire-Smith
Co-writer: Kirsty Phillips
Directed by Becca Lidstone
Starring:
Angharad Berrow
Aly Cruickshank
Olivia Martin
Tobias Weatherburn
Assistant Director: Joe Wiltshire-Smith
Producer: Tobias Weatherburn
Stage Manager: Hadley Taylor
Production Design: Ceci Calf
Sound Designer: Nick Laws
Lighting Designer: Garrin Clarke
Set Assistant: Aleks Carlyon
Technical Assistant: Theodore Hung

Review Soul Lyrical, Ragz-CV Theatre Peckham by Tanica Psalmist

’Soul Lyrical’ is a multi-displinary show, an eye-opening production that grips you in from start to finish. Co-directed by Suzann McLean in collaboration with Ragz-CV who’d performed his first spoken-word album entitled ’Soul Lyrical’. 

Ragz-CV is an extremely talented spit-firing poet, his lyrical content is a true expression of power and enlightenment. The energy that radiated from his free-flowing verses were compelling as he fused emotion, tone and tension together. This show had other incredible live performances merged, turning Theatre Peckham into a powerhouse, which was where the show took place. A massive credit to the following acts: Saxophonist Michael Cann-Abaidoo, Pianist Victor Akrofi and artist’s Sheena & Magero who’s voices sounded as if there was an ensemble of sacred angels securely fastened to their chests.

 
Ragz-CV’S inspiration and input into two of the scripts, one being ‘My Brothers Keeper’ was a refection of past experiences that he’d personally encountered as well as known for other people to have encountered. This production was an emotional journey as several of the scenes throughout this play broadens the conscious mindset as it exploits various aspects of young people’s involvement in knife crime, appreciation of mothers and the significance of identifying with your culture and mental health.

The initial themes exhibited were acceptance, self-worth and identity. The featuring of young people helped make this production sentimental as their connectivity to their character imperatively showed, making the scenes they acted in sincerely heartfelt and luring. I was able to speak with Ragz-CV afterwards and he’d highlighted that the young people involved were able to connect and resonate to the script as a few of them had either mentioned that they’d either seen or witnessed someone who’s been through some of the situations that were raised in the play. 

’Soul Lyrical’ is a chain of captivating mediums and content which seeks to raise self-awareness. The abstract dimensions in this show channelled what it meant to be an ethic minority affiliated with negativity when not truly knowing yourself. It was a beautiful moment when  Magero’s mum connects to her son from the audience, communicating with him in their native tongue, Swahili. This beautiful unexpected moment between a mother and her son came after Magero spoke on how he felt growing up with a low demographic of his native people in a new country, city and area. We witnessed that by Magero hearing his mothers voice his dysfunctional mindset was regenerated. This element in the play was a clear indication that by an elder connecting with the youth it holds the key to prevention of being led astray.

REVIEW: BOTTOM at The other Room by Gareth Ford-Elliott

 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

Bottom is an auto-biographical play about Willy Hudson, a queer man exploring the overriding questions of, what it is to be a “bottom” or a “top”, why does it matter and whether “bottom” in bed means bottom in life?

It’s a coming-of-age story, a queer story, a gay story, a story about insecurity in many forms, about relationships and ultimately, a classic love-story. But really, who needs labels when you’ve got substance? And Bottom has substance in bucket loads.

Willy takes us on his quest for love from the moment he came out to the morning after his first sober date. He’s awaiting a text from his date which triggers him to explore various aspects of his life and why this text, as opposed to the others, is so important.

Before this, Willy has been partying and sleeping around, as a bottom, for his entire sexual maturity, if he’s not been at home masturbating. This is the first time he’s felt a connection and the first time he’s not needed drugs or alcohol. But there are problems, the dinner he cooked was burned, he couldn’t ‘get it up’, he hid in his bathroom and they didn’t have sex.

As the play develops, in its non-linear pattern, we learn about Willy’s sexual history – but what we’re really doing is understanding his quest for love. Willy isn’t looking for sex, but that is what he’s been taught, so that is what he gets.

Willy Hudson immediately establishes a relationship with the audience from the moment he enters wearing only a towel, looking for his clothes which are hidden underneath our chairs.

Hudson’s performance is honest, he feels like himself, it barely comes across as acting. It feels as only Willy could have played this part. Hudson deals with his past emotions critically and delivers a brilliant performance, channeling his inner Sasha Fierce.

Hudson’s honesty and self-reflection leads into his writing too, which is carefully constructed into a brilliant non-linear plot. This allows Hudson to stay true to his story, whilst also telling a theatrically intriguing story. The writing is beautiful, honest, well-structured and funny. There’s no way you’d guess this is Hudson’s debut as a playwright.

Director, Rachel Lemon, admits this was a hard show to direct, in the post-show Q&A. Hard because it’s so truthful to Willy, there were times where the best artistic choice changed Willy’s story somewhat. But, Lemon does a good job of maintaining a strong piece of theatre whilst telling Willy’s truth.

It is chaotic at times, Willy jumping all over the place with his non-linear plot. That chaos however is representative of Willy’s life in the story, so it works brilliantly, and Lemon’s direction ensures this succeeds.

Tic Ashfield’s sound design compliments the play perfectly. I’m no Beyoncé fan (sorry Willy, I prefer Rihanna), but the music choices are brilliant and are exploited at the right times for emotional effect. The inclusion of Beyoncé isn’t a weird gimmick that Hudson throws in as a fan, which was the worry going in. It fits.

You’ll do well to see a more important and relevant play than Bottom in Wales this year. Hudson doesn’t fall into the trap of negativity that surrounds so much LGBTQ+ theatre and media generally. He spoke about the importance of positive LGBTQ+ stories and how it was important to him that this was positive, in the post-show Q&A.

Yet, Hudson doesn’t shy away from tough topics and critiquing aspects gay culture either. He also speaks about fears of backlash that he’s seen other shows get. But says that at the end of the day, “it’s just a story and it is my truth.”

Not only for the LGBTQ+ community though, Bottom should be celebrated by everyone. In a time when the government are forcing a debate about the education of LGBTQ+ relationships, this couldn’t be more relevant or important. You could do a lot worse than take your kids to see this production. It is a play I needed to see at fourteen or fifteen and is equally important now.

It’s an educational piece, but not supposed to be. It doesn’t aim to teach, it’s just a story. This fact is just a reflection of where we’re at as a society.

I have personally never related so much to a piece of theatre. Yet, I’m not LGBTQ+. Hudson tells a human story, where the protagonist happens to be queer. He doesn’t simplify it to labels, he explores the human behind the labels within LGBTQ+ and wider society. This is so powerful and something we need more of.

Bottom it is a heartfelt, honest, funny and thought-provoking exploration of gay relationships in modern Britain. Miss it at your own risk.

Bottom is part of The Other Room’s ‘Spring Fringe’ curated spring season. One of eight shows coming to Cardiff’s only pub theatre over eight weeks. Tickets can be found HERE.

BOTTOM at The Other Room, Cardiff
27th – 30th March 2019
Written, Performed and Produced by Willy Hudson
Directed and Produced by Rachel Lemon
Sound Design: Tic Ashfield
Movement Director: Jess Tucker Boyd
Lighting Design: Lucy Adams
Line Producer: Sofia Stephanou
Dramaturg: Bryony Kimmings
Graphic Design: Jimmy Ginn
Photographer: Joe Magowan
Videographer: Tristan Bell

REVIEW: TURBINES at RWCMD by Gareth Ford-Elliott

 out of 5 stars (1 / 5)

Turbines by Sarah
McDonald Hughes follows six students (aged around 15-16) in a unit-classroom as
they deal with the stabbing of a schoolmate. This leads to Mia stabbing her
teacher in the first scene as the play attempts to explain why this happened,
exploring who these young people are.

The play suffers from the use of stereotypical characters who
possess little depth and writing that feels lazy. As though
students are chucked in a unit and that will justify the stabbing, but it doesn’t.
Even within their backstories, their presence in the unit is not justified.

As it is, the play feels it would be more interesting placed
in a standard classroom as the play currently comes across as a series of events
that are mostly irrelevant or insignificant, particularly given the moral
protection of the unit.

The flow is constantly interrupted, and it moves too fast
without allowing time to explore the characters. There are a few breaks that offer
potential such as Tina’s boyfriend breaking up with her or a flashback to the
start of Mia and Grace’s early friendship. But even these scenes show very
little emotional intrigue.

There is no overriding story, really, besides the two
stabbings. The backstories cover most of the play, but these are stereotypical.
Parents who argue, a young pregnancy, an ill mother, and so on. These
backstories are not unique, offer little significance and just when you’re
expecting something to tie it all together, they look at some turbines, say
they feel calm, and nothing happens.

Moving onto the turbines, the title of the play and the key
piece of symbolism provided. Trying my hardest to drag something out of this, I
would say that the turbines are meant to represent serenity and persistence in a
tough environment. A symbol that allows the students to express. The rotation
of the blades also possibly referring back to the cyclical nature of knife
crime. The symbolism is somewhat tacked in and unclear, with potential it’s
just not reaching.

Turbines explores
multiple possibilities that can happen when the major event, the stabbing, occurs
and explores how that might affect their lives differently. It’s also unclear
which of these is the ending or if the writer wants there to be one specific
ending. Perhaps not an issue for where this piece was imagined to be but given
that it appears to try to question why this stabbing might occur, the lack of a
definitive ending is a problem.

I can see where this play goes wrong in the writing process,
as it has a singular focus at its core and fitting that to a cast of seven is hard.
It centres around Mia and everyone else is basically irrelevant. And if that is
the aim, then why bother with 90% of the rest of the play? There is potential
there for a good play about Mia. But it needs expanding, focusing and lots of
cutting.

I just struggle to see how a play produced in collaboration
with Paines Plough could be quite this underdeveloped. My guess is that the
writer wasn’t afforded the time or support necessary for this piece to succeed.
I don’t think you can pin the play’s failures solely on such a talented and
promising writer.

Emily Ling Williams direction just falls a little flat. There are attempts at characterisation through the acting, some of which work, some don’t. The tone and pace are not handled particularly well, however this is quite hard as the story beats are all over the place. It’s a tough play to direct, but Williams stumbles to raise the bar for the production.

Rocky Hood’s lighting works well, very understated, but is one of few positives from this production. The sound design from Jack Lancelot Stewart is fine. It’s nothing exceptional and sometimes intruding, but decent overall.

Clare Johnson’s set is a little clunky and often gets in the
way, although does a good job of establishing location. The fans, representing
wind turbines, just look tacky and don’t work.

The performances from the cast of seven are all decent. But really, most of the actors don’t have much to play with. There are clearly attempts at characterisation made by the actors with the director. Amesh Edireweera’s mannerisms as Liam, Finnian Garbutt’s boyish immaturity as Reece and Nina Bloomgarden’s grace as Grace all stand out as expansions on the script.

Unfortunately, the school teacher, portrayed by Lilly Tukur,
Jack (Harry Heap) and Tina (Julie Lamberton) are all pretty much unsavable. The
performances are good for the most part, given what they had, but they really
deserve better.

Abbie Hern stands out as Mia. Her character has the most
substance and is the most explored. Hern rises to this and delivers a great
performance which is one of few shining lights in this production.

Turbines examines
young people and their actions in what is an underwhelming production that can’t
be saved by its strong cast.

Turbines performed at The Bute Theatre, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
19 – 21 March 2019 in Cardiff
Transferring to The Gate Theatre, London, 2 – 5 April
Written by Sarah McDonald Hughes
Directed by Emily Ling Williams
In Collaboration with Paines Plough
As part of RWCMD’s ‘NEW’ Season
Starring:
Abbie Hern as Mia
Nina Bloomgarden as Grace
Finnian Garbutt as Reece
Amesh Edireweera as Liam
Julie Lamberton as Tina
Harry Heap as Jack
Lilly Tukur as School Teacher
Production Team:
Set & Costume Design: Clare Johnson
Lighting Design: Rocky Hood
Sound Designer: Jack Lancelot Stewart
Assistant Production Manager: Alexandra Drescher-Elphick
Stage Manager: Jessica Forella
Deputy Stage Manager: Cara-Megan Rees

Assistant Stage Manager: Amy Hales
Design Assistant: Rachel Merritt
Technicians: Ella Cunnison, Kitty Dunning, Jamie Holden  and Paul Kaiba
Venue Technician: Evie Oliver
Supervisors: Kristy Bowers, Rob Clarke and Laura Martin