Author Archives: Sarah Davies

About Sarah Davies

Sarah is a Drama Lecturer (UAL Acting and Applied Drama), Freelance Writer, Facilitator and Improviser who has written for Total Theatre Magazine since 2011. Recent work includes play commissions from Theatre Centre, Menagerie Theatre and Now Press Play, and facilitation/directing for The Marlowe Theatre, All The World's a Stage and Improv Gym. Her recent improv performances include Mount Olymprov (Greece) with Big Bang Improv Boston, Amsterdam Improv Marathon,and Improfest (London).

Dotted Line: The Lonely One

The Lonely One is a true example of a simple narrative beautifully executed with real heart and intelligence. Based on an extract from Ray Bradbury’sDandelion Wine, the typically lyrical dialogue immediately evokes a sense of place, transporting us into the heat of a suburban American summer’s night. The ‘lonely one’ himself is a shadowy and almost mystical figure, representing fear and death. A string of female murders attributed to him have taken place in ‘Green Town’, bringing tension, rumours and a fear of strangers that prompts residents to stay in at night with their doors firmly bolted. Our protagonist is Lavinia Nebbs, a feisty ‘spinster’ who refuses to believe the gossips and insists on walking home at night through a dark ravine.

So much of the tale’s imagery is linked with light and perception, illustrated effectively through Rachel Warr’s direction; the excellent stagecraft includes torches symbolising fireflies, miniature houses which become projection screens for detailed shadow puppetry, and hand-held lanterns which light then distort the frightening ravine, all operated by a well-honed ensemble. Characterisation is consistently excellent from the whole cast, and even the smallest of movements are performed with clear focus and intention.

In this taut atmosphere, the expectation that something terrible is waiting is unavoidable. As Bradbury writes: ‘Death was the Lonely One, unseen, walking and standing behind trees, waiting in the country to come in, once or twice a year, to this town, to these streets, to these many places where there was little light.’ The tension mounts further as Lavinia makes her late night journey home, but unfortunately is disrupted a little at the crucial point by sound overspilling from a neighbouring studio. Nonetheless, the production’s resolution (which I won’t give away!) is pleasing and well delivered, and the atmosphere and images created certainly linger on the walk home!

Curious Directive: After the Rainfall

Having won a Fringe First last year for the critically acclaimed Your Last Breath, Curious Directive’s second Fringe production comes loaded with some expectation. Much of this young devising company’s work explores the role that science plays in life, and in After the Rainfall, loss, colonialism, nuclear power and human ambition are thrust sharply under the microscope.

Set in a variety of time periods, sweeping and complex narratives are played out and linked together by an overarching theme – specifically an examination of the parallels between human and ant behaviour. In the opening story, set in a near and seemingly dystopian future, a revolutionary publication linking the ways in which ants and humans communicate is causing huge media controversy. The theories examined therein (namely territory, natural resources, artefacts and most interestingly ‘the point of change’) provide a solid framework for the production. Largely character-driven, the piece’s most effective narratives were those of Rashida (Colette Tchando), who lost her brother in the recent Egyptian uprising, and Claire (Karina Sugden), who is dealing with a bereavement caused by a Cumbrian mining accident. Both performers expressed their paralleled stories with admirable skill and energy.

Under Jack Lowe’s consummate direction, the production’s curious, questioning nature always remains firmly at the forefront, and is enhanced by some slick and well executed movement sequences, excellent stagecraft, and a largely well-placed use of multimedia that includes moving projections and scientific imagery. The sheer breadth of ideas and ambition in this production cannot be denied. However, sometimes this comes at the expense of emotional depth or clarity of story, which made it feel difficult for me to achieve consistent engagement as an audience member.

www.curiousdirective.com

Dangerologists: Work Songs

There is much in the ideology of Work Songs that holds appeal for any of us who have toiled in an unforgiving job: explorations of complex status play and mind-numbing routine, and a clever examination of the tension caused by ridiculous office minutiae.

Broderick Chow and Tom Wells are consummate performers in the physical theatre style, with Chow in particular creating some engaging moments through direct audience address which makes one yearn for him to succeed in his aim of escaping the mundane. Indeed, Chow is as desperate to leave his job as Wells is to make him stay, and the battle that ensues is illustrated through stylised and hugely energetic wrestling sequences, which are well-choreographed and firmly influenced by contemporary dance.

In some respects the production is reminiscent of DV8’s Enter Achilles, with the need to be ‘top dog’ in a masculine environment being explored with robust and polished physicality. The effort in achieving this is evident in the sheer volume of sweat that pours from the performers, and is featured effectively in the denouement: the audience are handed damp and useless spreadsheets to examine, a futile and highly symbolic gesture that effectively sums up the show’s key themes.

Undoubtedly the set-up and immense physical effort are commendable, but there is room for development in the execution of character and the delivery of some of the dialogue here. Whilst the narrative warmed up as the production progressed, tangible characters were not fully established and a good portion of Wells’ lines in particular were lost to an over-loud soundtrack or at times to rushed delivery. This lead to difficulty in consistently engaging as an audience member. There is a challenge here in developing a piece where movement and dialogue fully complement each other, further complicated by combining abstract and heightened movement with very naturalistic and at times low energy dialogue. The performers’ engagement with this challenge and level of risk-taking in the use of movement make for a complicated but interesting piece with the potential to be honed into a more coherent whole.

www.dangerology.wordpress.com

Contact Theatre / Maxwell Golden: CountryBoy’s Struggle

CountryBoy’s Struggle grabbed my attention from the pre-set onwards and firmly held my interest through the absorbing and accomplished performance of Maxwell Golden, which combines sharply delivered multiple characters, imaginative use of physicality, and, of course, a big dash of rap. Golden plays ‘Michael’, the titular Country Boy and affable geek, and the piece is directed by Contact Theatre’s artistic director Baba Israel, himself a hip hop artist from New York. Hailing from Bude in Cornwall, Michael’s unlikely aspiration is to make it in the hip hop world (despite largely rapping about dogs, and going to the seaside!).

We follow a narrative from Michael’s birth to his eventual integration into London’s hip hop community, peppered with hilarious anecdotes and re-enactments of key points along the way, all executed with breathtaking focus and attention to detail. Every movement and moment is well considered and faultlessly slick. Relatively simple staging comprising of simple rostra and treads functions well to drive the narrative on, and is used by Golden as the platform for multiple imaginary destinations including a night club stage scattered with a truly believable and delightfully varied cast of hip hop MCs.

Israel and Golden use audience interaction to good effect with a call and response style that quickly gets us on side and encourages us to root for this underdog and his unlikely dream. Underlying this too is a sense of sadness, as we learn that Michael has an alcoholic and seemingly unsupportive father and a deceased mother – the impetus that drives him further to succeed.

There is plenty in this show to appeal to a wide audience (even for someone such as myself, not exactly au fait with the hip hop scene!): effective use of humour, well-channelled energy, and the sheer vitality of the performer in particular, are supported by a strong and very well-structured narrative and a character that one cannot help but wish to succeed.

RedCape Theatre and Turtle Key Arts: 1 Beach Road

This beautifully staged and physicalised piece provides everything that one could wish for in terms of metaphor and images related to sand and sea. As Jane’s mind crumbles due to the tragic progress of early onset Alzheimer’s, so too does the sand in her pockets and beneath her feet. A real strength of 1 Beach Road is the creation of such pictures, showing not telling the audience to great effect. Victoria and Jane are two middle-aged women who meet in a beach cafe and form a gentle relationship which eventually sees them moving in together and running a cliff-side B&B.

At first their sea views are obscured by houses, but gradually this becomes less of a problem as the cliffs erode and remove the obstacle. Suddenly the sea is only too visible and tension mounts as we the audience begin to see more clearly too; for Jane things are not going to get better. She too teeters on a precipice with no real hope of rescue. The couple struggle on amidst the painful erosion, the passage of time and Jane’s loss of coherent thought strikingly illustrated through the use of repetitive sequences. Those which struck me most were a repeated hospital appointment where the questions remained the same but Jane’s answers became more and more vague, and a montage of the couple’s restless sleeping patterns cleverly illustrating the disruption of a previous peace.

Levels were used to great effect for the cliff top and to highlight the repetition, and both Cassie Friend and Catherine Dyson are accomplished physical performers whose every movement brought their characters more clearly to life. Jane performed some aerial work clothed in a swimming costume towards the end, illustrating her demise, which was breathtaking to watch but a little brief. The amicable relationship between the characters was all the more painful for seeing it destroyed, but points maybe at a slightly ‘safe’ portrayal; I wasn’t sure that I always believed that this was a passionate couple who were in love. However, these were characters who both appeared to be ‘held back’ by something, perhaps their middle-class natures, and this portrayal did link well to the final poignant section with Victoria attempting to ‘keep her head up’ and cope alone until the inevitable and dramatic denouement. A skilled and lyrical piece, this production approaches the issue of Alzheimer’s with honesty, guts and wonderful creativity.