UK Theatre Network

Vivienne Franzmann was a joint winner of the 2009 Bruntwood playwriting competition, and her winning script Mogadishu is now being premiered in the Royal Exchange’s main house.

In contrast with the exotic title (a fleeting reference to middle-class teenage gap years) the setting is a present-day inner-city school where a black schoolboy’s assault on a white female teacher becomes bizarrely twisted into an allegation of violence and racism by her on him.  

Mogadishu is part examination of the downside of political correctness (cf David Edgar’s 2008 Testing the Echo, coincidentally also directed by Matthew Dunster), and part illustration of the devastating consequences when a lie gets out of control (also themes in The Children’s Hour and The Crucible).  However because the playwright’s intentions are entirely invested in exonerating the teacher there is never any ambiguity in the drama (the events are clearly laid out in the first scene), and while the tragic back-stories flesh out the characters and provide some moments of tension they don’t raise the overall stakes.  

I might have felt more emotionally involved if Vivienne Franzmann’s central character, the supposedly experienced, dedicated and savvy teacher Amanda, hadn’t been the least believable character on stage.  Even when played with as much conviction as an excellent actor like Julia Ford can muster, Amanda’s naivety, credulity and apparent unfamiliarity with school, local authority and child protection procedures beggar belief.

However I have nothing but praise for Matthew Dunster’s fast-paced and spirited production, and the acting is universally brilliant.  The versatile Ian Bartholomew excels yet again as a harassed, crumpled, spiritually beige head-teacher, while Fraser James and Christian Dixon are sympathetic as parents of difficult adolescents.

However the evening is stolen by the school children, a group of diverse, recognisable and memorable characters that would do credit to Shakespeare.  Malachi Kirby is mesmerising as Jason, the confused, vulnerable and seemingly amoral man-child, easily switching between chilling school bully and browbeaten son.  The comically nerdy Firat (Michael Karim) and passionate goth Becky (Shannon Tarbet) are also fine, contrasting well with Jason’s streetwise and cynical gang (Farshid Rokey, Tendayi Jembere, Tara Hodge, Savannah Gordon-Liburd and Hammed Animashaun).

Tom Scutt’s design of a revolving stage encircled by a high mesh cage is a massive sight-line problem if you’re not watching from the gods, and the whole-scale switching of sets between scenes (something of a Dunster trademark) is a distraction, but while Mogadishu is not an especially thought-provoking or revealing play it is still a thoroughly enjoyable evening at the theatre.

Mogadishu is on until Saturday 19 February 2011

Prices: £9-£30

Evenings: Mon-Fri @ 7.30pm; Sats @ 8pm

Matinees: Weds @ 2.30pm; Sats @ 4pm

Box Office: 0161 833 9833

www.royalexchange.co.uk

Directed by Frances Loy

Theatre delicatessen’s first production in its new home at Picton Place is Philip Ridley’s Mercury Fur. A play told at full throttle, Ridley's world is a dark place, survivors on edge creating dark fantasies for those that will pay to play

Elliot (Matt Granados) and his brother Darren (Chris Urch) prepare places  for ‘parties’ where people can film their fantasies, Lola (Isaac Jones) helps them prepare for these events.

The play opens with Elliot and Darren finding an abandoned flat to hold the party, they encounter Naz, (Mikey Bharj) a squatter who quickly ingratiates  himself in the hope of cadging some drugs from Elliot and to avoid being alone.

The outfit is run by Spinx (Ben Wigzell), a man whose power is seemingly untouchable. The group await the arrival of the party guest, the client whose whims are catered for. Things do not go according to plan and the action moves swiftly to lead the characters to a horrifying and inevitable conclusion. 

Much symbolism is present in this work, links between the characters are hinted at but never fully explained.

There are some compelling performances in this production and Loy's confident direction has employed full use of the space to encourage the audience to feel they are in the moment with the characters.

Mercury Fur

3-4 Picton Place W1U 1BJ

Audience should note Strong language is throughout.

Think of Manchester, and think of a great industrial city famed for its world-class football, cutting-edge music scene and all manner of scientific innovations; however you might equally recall its post-industrial reputation for the kind of poverty and social deprivation that invariably foster youth crime and organised violence.

 Andrew Davies’s sensational book The Gangs of Manchester, which received glowing reviews in the national press last winter, is an investigation into Manchester’s notorious gang-culture.  However instead of being set in contemporary Hulme and Moss Side it features their 1890s equivalents: Ancoats, Angel Meadow, Harpurhey and a maze of inner-city neighbourhoods where local tribes of fashion-conscious hooligans staged prearranged fights (“scuttling”) armed with heavily buckled belts, knives, and even knitting needles.

 Rob Lees and Jill Hughes of MaD Theatre Company have taken this forgotten history and turned it into an astonishing theatrical extravaganza involving a huge cast of talented community actors, with cameos from some of Manchester’s most recognisable faces and exclusive new recordings by veterans of the Madchester music scene.

 The dysfunctional McGregor and Johnson clans, with their extensive broods of battling sons and loose-moralled daughters, seem to have sprung from a Victorian episode of Shameless.  Theirs is a life of non-stop drinking, gambling, whoring and fighting, and most of their leisure-time revolves around the pub-cum-knocking-shop run by the slatternly Flanagan family.

 There are 21 actors and every beautifully realised character is brought to life with Dickensian relish; The Library Theatre stage hasn’t thronged with such a vibrant and lively company since Out of Joint played The Convict’s Opera in February.  Inevitably though the smaller members of the cast pretty much steal the show: Alana Thornton as Mary-Ann McGregor and Lauren Lennon as Mary-Ellen Johnson are an unforgettable double-act, and Charlie Nield brings the house down as the boy with the unreliable sphincter. 

 Director Rob Lees pulls off the difficult trick of making video an integral part of the production, and Paul Cliff’s black-and-white re-enactments of the scuttling are stylised and stark.  We’re also treated to clips of local talent like Terry Christian, John Henshaw, Smug Roberts and Graeme Hawley, to say nothing of the specially recorded soundtrack from Mike Joyce of The Smiths and Clint Boon of the Inspiral Carpets, together with current favourites Twisted Wheel, The Naughtys and Bye Bye Johnny.

 Parallels with modern-day gang culture are highlighted by accessorising the scuttlers’ outfits with twenty-first-century Burberry checks, and the decision to put scally-speak in the characters’ mouths gives the dialogue a freshness and immediacy which prevents the whole experience from seeming like a respectful costume drama or a polite example of theatre-in-education.

 This is a first rate example of community theatre - little wonder that this week’s extended run has sold out.  Keep an eye on MaD Company’s website for the surely inevitable revival of this superb production.

Angels with Manky Faces is on until Saturday 22 August 2009

Prices: £10 (£9.50)

Eves @ Tues-Thurs @ 7.30; Fri & Sat @ 8pm

Matinee Sat @ 3pm

Box Office: 0161 236 7110

www.librarytheatre.com

www.madtheatrecompany.co.uk