Fiona Peek’s new play Salt was co-winner of the Royal Exchange’s Bruntwood Playwriting Competition in November 2008, and the premiere of this sophisticated social comedy has been eagerly anticipated.  

The action takes place between July 2007 and March 2008 during the course of five dinner parties in Simon and Amy’s beautiful basement kitchen.  Simon’s stable law firm salary and Amy’s chic little gallery job provide them and their children with a lifestyle straight out of a weekend colour supplement.  However their two child-free friends Rachel and Nick (Amy’s old flame from college days) are struggling with debt now that his freelance journalism commissions are drying up and RSI has ended her orchestral career.

Fiona Peek’s debut play, with its skilfully interwoven themes of debt, fertility, work/life balance and food porn, thoroughly nails the late-noughties zeitgeist.  The other unacknowledged but ever-present problem plaguing the middle-classes is excessive recreational drinking - a vice which does more than its fair share to inflame the situation here.

Even if external circumstances didn’t play a part, the chemistry between Amy and Nick and their uninhibited flirting has “slow-motion car crash” written all over it.  Beth Cordingly’s smug Amy is still proprietorial of her ex, constantly reminding Rachel (and Simon) of how long they’ve known each other and therefore how much better she understands him than his wife does.

Simon Chadwick plays her husband as an uptight conformist pretending to be a laid back peacemaker.  He tries to remain aloof from the emotional maelstrom but this diplomacy only masks his diffidence towards the other couple.  You form the impression that if he and Amy were to divorce, she would get Rachel and Nick in the settlement.

Kevin Harvey’s slightly-scouse and immature Nick, one of those nightmare guests who can’t distinguish between a dinner party debate and a stand-up row, is stuck in the laddish culture of the 1990s, and Esther Hall’s brittle Rachel is as highly strung as her own violin when confronted with the dilemma of treating her immature husband as a child or making him face up to his responsibilities.

Ben Stones’ sleek set is like watching the window display in a designer furniture shop coming alive, and Jo Coombs’ fluid and fast-paced production captures the authentic tone of entitlement of the (apparently) affluent professional classes.

My only quibble is that the bombshell dropped in the dying moments is treated with such brevity and underplaying as to be almost subliminal - if this was on DVD you’d frantically rewind it trying to work out exactly what happened.  But even without a freeze-frame facility the first-night audience was highly appreciative of this witty and clever new play.

 

Salt is on until Saturday 20 February 2010

Prices: £4 (conc)-£9.50

Evenings: Mon-Sat @ 7.30

Matinees: Wed & Sat @ 2.30

Box Office: 0161 833 9833

www.royalexchange.co.uk

24:7 Theatre Festival, Manchester

Friday 24 July 2009

 

As We Forgive Them - Pure/Blue

 

Writer/performer Richard Vergette returns to 24:7 after his acclaimed one-man show An Englishman’s Home in 2007.  This year he is joined by powerful young actor Joe Sims in an intense three-act drama which is perfectly suited to the claustrophobic space in Blue.

 

Congressman John Daniels (Richard Vergette) is paying a personal visit to the high-security wing of the state penitentiary, where Lee Fenton (Joe Sims) is serving life for the murder of the congressman’s daughter. 

 

Daniels is the epitome of the bleeding heart liberal, still firmly opposed to the death penalty in spite of his own tragic loss, and apparently on an evangelical mission to save Fenton’s soul.  Initially, however, there seems to be no possibility of communication between the two: the prisoner, slumped in his chair and unable to concentrate, merely grunts profanities; while Daniels is verbose to the n-th degree, apparently in love with the sound of his own voice.

 

The skill of the writing manages to make something out of this seemingly intractable situation, while Andrew Pearson’s excellent direction creates moments of edge-of-the-seat tension.

 

As we come to care about Fenton’s reform the play springs a nifty surprise.  As We Forgive Them is an involving and sometimes moving story which is enhanced by a pair of marvellous performances.

 

www.247theatrefestival.co.uk has all the show information including video trailers

 

Tickets: £8/£6 (conc): book online from the 247 website or ring 0870 428 0785 (or turn up at the venues)

 

Venues: Pure at the Printworks, off Withy Grove/Corporation Street; New Century House, Corporation Street (200 metres from The Printworks)

Both venues are a stone’s throw from Manchester Victoria Station

Freshers - New Century 1

Blinded by the Light - Pure/Funktion

Dancing to the Sound of Crunch of Snails - Pure/Funktion

 

Only into Day 2 of the 24:7 Theatre Festival, and the craik is great.  The Hub at New Century House is the perfect place to meet up for pre- and post-show drinks, and tomorrow (Wednesday) there’s a free short film night from 10pm. 

 

This evening I kicked off at New Century 1 with Freshers by Steve Pearce, author of 2007’s popular Rose Cottage.  The premise promises comedy mayhem: Scarlett arrives in halls on her first day at university, only to find that her dad Miles has also enrolled as a student and is living on the floor below - with hilarious consequences! (I assumed).  In fact my expectations were thoroughly subverted because the encounters between dad and daughter are dark and emotionally charged due to heavy family stuff from a few years before.  The funny, sexy, studenty bits are flashbacks to the same room 20 years earlier, when earnest ecologist Hephzibah unwittingly bursts in on the sleeping Miles. 

 

Steve Pearce has created a brilliant role in Hephzibah, a very funny and extremely confident young woman who is superbly played by Christine Clare.  And while Miles may be slobbish, irresponsible and emotionally immature, Richard Hand manages to make him utterly charming and lovable.  They spark off each other like a contemporary Beatrice and Benedick - I definitely want to see these two actors working together again.

 

Over at Pure/Funktion the seating plan which served perfectly well for Working Title had been rotated by 90^o, to the detriment of both sound and lighting.  Fortunately Blinded by the Light by Karl Voden is such a strong piece that it manages to survive these hostile conditions.  This is a character-led drama which focuses on three press photographers-cum-paparazzi who are camped outside the home of a disgraced celebrity, hoping to capture the first pictures of him following his downfall.  Weasely Ray (Reg Edwards) is on the staff of an unsavoury tabloid, while Gobbi (Tom Tunstall) has set up his own agency and drives around in a Jag.  Then brash young freelance Mitch (Adam Diggle), son of an old pal, joins them for the stake-out, and while they’re waiting and reminiscing and philosophising their careers gradually come into conflict with their private lives. 

 

This is one of the strongest scripts I’ve seen this year: the characterisations are spot on, the dialogue rings true, the story unfolds in a very satisfying way, and on top of that the three main actors are absolutely excellent.  Blinded by the Light has been produced by Liverpool-based LAX Theatre Company, which on the evidence of this show is a seriously talented outfit.

 

When I walked into Joe Graham’s Dancing to the Sound of Crunching Snails I was delighted to see that Pure/Funktion had been reconfigured yet again, this time into a three-sided thrust-type staging - definitely the most audience-friendly set-up I’ve seen this year.  However, my next thought was: they’re going to have to find more chairs by the weekend if it’s already full on a Tuesday night. 

 

Dancing to the Sound of Crunching Snails is about one of those fraught family Christmases that make atheism such an appealing lifestyle choice.  Divorced father Howard (Michael Starke) is trying to rebuild long-burnt bridges with his adult daughters Sara (Gemma Wardle) and Katie (Catherine Kinsella), while son-in-law Sam (Andrew Grose) thinks that everything can be solved by sitting around the table and playing board games.  The highlight of this show is the chaotic game of Monopoly, skilfully choreographed by director Joyce Branagh, where Sam attempts to make them all play nicely together while the other three have an enormous row without saying anything to the purpose.

 

Although I had been expecting more of an out-and-out comedy rather than a family drama, this is the kind of feelgood show which has you coming out with a soppy smile all over your face, and the acting is top notch.

 

 

www.247theatrefestival.co.uk has all the show information including video trailers

 

Tickets: £8/£6 (conc): book online from the 247 website or ring 0870 428 0785 (or turn up at the venues)

 

Venues: Pure at the Printworks, off Withy Grove/Corporation Street; New Century House, Corporation Street (200 metres from The Printworks)

Both venues are a stone’s throw from Manchester Victoria Station

The Coffee Hour - New Century 1

Phys Ed - New Century 1

 

Opening day of the 24:7 Theatre Festival brings blue skies and excited audiences for early performances of the 21 new shows on offer.  Follow the link to the 24:7 website (below) for video trailers, show times and further information.

 

The Coffee Hour by Arden-trained Michael Peacock is about strangers who literally bump into each other in a coffee shop.  Laura is nursing a mug of caffeine, not to mention the remains of a bottle of house red, at her solitary table in a café-bar, so it’s no surprise that she’s as highly-strung as a Bechstein grand and doesn’t take kindly to having her drink spilled by the clumsy and unselfconscious Adam.  Adam’s equally clumsy attempts at conversation result in screwball comedy-style quick-fire wit and repartee, but as the sparks fly Laura’s icy demeanour gradually thaws. 

 

However the casual encounter is transformed into a moving and emotional relationship when the banter dies down and Laura reveals her hidden sorrow - the tragic loss of her much-loved sister who was the victim of a hit-and-run accident.  Suffering from survivor’s guilt and seeing forgiveness as a form of betrayal in spite of the quietus it might bring to her own soul, Sarah Wylie beautifully captures the ebb and flow of Laura’s confused feelings.  Michael Peacock as Adam is especially strong in his laid-back lothario guise, with the kind of expressive comedy eyes that almost need no dialogue.  A touching two-hander.

 

On a completely different note, Phys Ed by Simon Carter is a comedy monologue about rugby obsessed PE teacher Neville Trellis.  Trellis is played by Library Theatre favourite Nicholas Osmond, a man for whom the phrase “romantic juvenile lead” might have been coined, so it’s entirely to his credit that he sheds all vestiges of dignity and self-respect to embrace his inner geek so convincingly.

 

Trellis tells us about his difficult journey through life as the bed-wetting younger twin of a future England sports star; lets us into the secrets of his brethren, the tight-trackie-bottom wearing, underpant-shunning Phys Ed teaching mafia; and draws the obvious parallels between King Arthur’s Round Table and the quest to win the England schools invitation trophy, his personal holy grail.

 

Simon Carter’s script lets the actor ventriloquise an entire cast of unsavoury characters in addition to his anti-anti-hero, and Nicholas Osmond easily holds the audience enraptured for 55 minutes.  But his bravura solo performance is supported by excellent use of sound and lighting in what is a real team effort - well done lads!

 

www.247theatrefestival.co.uk has all the show information including video trailers

 

Tickets: £8/£6 (conc): book online from the 247 website or ring 0870 428 0785 (or turn up at the venues)

 

Venues: Pure at the Printworks, off Withy Grove/Corporation Street; New Century House, Corporation Street (200 metres from The Printworks)

Both venues are a stone’s throw from Manchester Victoria Station

The Last Chair - New Century 2

Temp/Casual - New Century 2

Working Title - Pure/Funktion

Detaining Mr K - New Century 1

Donal Fleet: A Confessional - New Century 2

 

We’re only into the second half of July and Manchester is already holding its third major theatrical event of the month.  But forget the Manchester International Festival and Not Part Of, because the 24:7 Theatre Festival is by comparison the great-granddaddy of the city’s new writing festivals, 2009 being its sixth consecutive year.

 

The three well-established stages at Pure in the Printworks are joined by two venues at New Century House, a mere 200 metres further up Corporation Street, meaning that this year there are no more nightmare sprints across the city centre between performances.  Plenty of time then to chill out, get some drinks in, catch up with old friends and have an animated discussion about the 21 shows on offer.

 

Ian Townsend burst on to the 24:7 scene last year with the filthy farce Granny Must Die, but in 2009 he’s moved into the sophisticated arena of absurdist comedy with The Last Chair.  A lone chair is centre-stage.  On it is a man in a suit - just sitting.  Along comes a woman in an evening dress who tries to prise him from his chair - she’s had a hard day, fancies a sit down, and as it happens there are no more chairs in the whole world. 

 

This simple premise is the opportunity for a writer with a keen ear for the northern vernacular and a real love of language to showcase his skills, as well as creating a comedy double-act for Karl Lucas and Hayley Fairclough.   The cross-talk, patter and slapstick recall the golden era of comics like Tommy Cooper, Les Dawson and Morecambe and Wise. 

 

Steve Timms’s Temp/Casual is a comedy drama about four ex-college friends whose dreams and ambitions have faded into dull compromise and McJobs - a kind of slacker northern This Life.  Poet Martin finds himself writing odes for the tourist board, actress Susan branches out into adult entertainment, and aspiring stand-up Adam deals drugs to his mate Stick when he should be honing his routine.  How great it is to see the dramatic events taking place on stage in front of the audience rather than being relegated to back-story or some kind of cryptic sub-textual code.  Instead the writer is brave enough to show us the violence, drug taking, love making, exam marking, sexual role play and performance poetry that make up the lives of these young, northern, urban graduates.  The idiom and frame of references in the script are so specific that at times I found the dialogue nearly incomprehensible, but the intention behind the lines is clear enough.  There was enough meat in the story to make a much longer play, or even a TV series, with a large cast of characters and a number of complex story threads ambitiously squished into the all-too-brief 60 minute slot.

 

Back at Pure Working Title written and performed by James Jowett and Adam Davies delves into the realms of the surreal and post-modern.  Will and Anthony are trying to come up with a script in time for a theatre festival deadline.  At their wits’ end, they decide to write about themselves writing a script - potentially the most undramatic, self-serving, and pretentious premise for a show ever seen at 24:7.  Instead this comedy is an absolute triumph as the writers watch new characters walk into their lives at the suggestion of their director, and then in desperation devise increasingly wild stratagems to write them out of the script in real time.  Sword-fighting, Spanish ninjas and a body double feature in the frenetic fun, with Michael Anthony Bond particularly memorable as the predatory, camp and wholly unwanted new flatmate Patrick.  Potentially Working Title might have amounted to no more than an over-extended sketch, but by the end it’s an intellectually stretching and genuinely theatrical comedy.  A five star hit if ever I saw one.

 

Returning to New Century House for Detaining Mr K by James Douglas I found myself well-disposed to the show before it even started - the company hands out caramelised coffee biscuits on entry (which is more than you get at The Cornerhouse these days).  While I was initially expecting a harrowing political play, what I actually got was a harrowing political play grafted onto an Ealing Comedy.

 

A man in white overalls is thrown into a clinical white room.  This is Britain in 2010 and Anthony has just spent 26 days being detained without trial - the experience has been traumatic judging by his uncontrollable trembling and sweating.  Luckily his latest interrogator, the be-slippered and be-suited Pauline, has a different approach to obtaining information - a nice cup of tea and a gypsy cream.

 

The clash of styles - the minutely-observed naturalism of Anthony (played by Anthony Bentley) and the broad Cockney stereotype of Pauline (Ruth Urquhart) - looks like a disaster in theory.  But thanks to James Douglas’s superb script and the absolutely true performances from the actors, these disparate elements become an organic whole. 

 

The play is also gripping purely as a political thriller, using CCTV clips, footage from surveillance cameras and recorded play-back of the ongoing interview to reveal hidden stories and layers of meaning.  This has got to be one of the best uses of new media I have seen in any theatrical context, let alone 24:7.  When so many productions use film projections to no good effect whatsoever - including two I saw today which shall remain nameless - Detaining Mr K embeds the technology as an integral part of its storyline.  You really must see this excellent show.

 

Finally, Donal Fleet: A Confessional by Sean Gregson is what you’d probably get if Harold Pinter had written a play set in Wythenshawe.  The intriguing mise-en-scène - a mosaic of ill-matched second-hand furniture, piles of loose manuscripts, and a drinks trolley, Dansette record-player and antique typewriter - might once have passed for a sinister and seedy bedsit, but these days has the intellectual ambience of a Writer’s Room feature in an aspirational Sunday broadsheet culture supplement. 

 

Donal Fleet, a middle-aged impoverished Bohemian living in self-imposed isolation and very good tweeds, is awoken by The Lad, a vaguely threatening presence from his past.  Then The Lad’s wife, The Woman, arrives; a sexual temptress who reminds one of Ruth in The Homecoming, only with the added intrigue of a European accent.

 

It has to be said that, as in most Pinter plays, you’re never really sure what has brought such diverse people together, and they don’t behave like real people but like characters out of a Pinter play.  Nothing that a team of Spanish ninjas wouldn’t have improved in my opinion.

 

www.247theatrefestival.co.uk has all the show information including video trailers

 

Tickets

£8/£6 (conc): book online from the 247 website or ring 0870 428 0785 (or turn up at the venues)

 

Venues

Pure at the Printworks, off Withy Grove/Corporation Street

New Century House, Corporation Street (200 metres from The Printworks)

Both venues are a stone’s throw from Manchester Victoria Station (train/tram/bus/ Metroshuttle No. 2)

Running from 20-26 July, Manchester's top festival of new writing showcases 21 original one-hour pieces in unconventional venues.  

The programme features a mix of experienced and new writers, while previous 247-ers returning this year include Steve Timms, Ian Townsend and Steve Pearce.

Tickets are £8 (£6 concessions) and the venues - The Printworks and New Century House - are both conveniently situated for Victoria Station, buses and Metrolink.

For full details of shows, times, tickets, locations etc visit:

http://www.247theatrefestival.co.uk

Unreal

The Customs House, South Shields, Tyne and Wear

Two of the North East’s leading ‘new writing’ producers have teamed up for a three year partnership to offer playwrights in the North East region various opportunities to develop and showcase their work.

The Customs House, South Shields and Cloud Nine Productions launched the project, last night, with a trio of brand new one-act plays from aspiring Northern writers, collectively entitled ‘Unreal.’

Each of the three plays are directed by Jackie Fielding and performed by members of a cast of four: Christina Berriman Dawson, Chris Connel, Tracy Gillman and Louis Roberts.

The overriding theme that runs through each of the plays is that things are not always what they seem.

In Second Most Disappointing by Alison Carr, a bickering step-father and daughter receive some ‘divine intervention’ at the foot of The Angel of the North and their relationship is changed significantly for the better with the help of an eccentric con-woman.

Double Nuts, by Louise Gallagher, sees a paranoid schizophrenic planning her escape from a mental health institute and finding love along the way.

And Mind Games, by Joe McLaughlin, chronicles a confrontation in a gent’s loo between two apparent strangers.

All three plays are original and engaging, as well as being extremely well-written. The performances are consistently excellent and completely believable and the direction is slick, skilful and pacey.

The set, designed by Molly Barrett, is simple and easily interchangeable to suit each of the  plays.

This innovative partnership has kicked off with a great deal of style and promise, and every indication is that the future of new theatre in the North East is in safe, capable and very talented hands.

Steve Burbridge.

‘Unreal’ continues at The Customs House, South Shields until Thursday 4^th June 2009.