Author Archives: Sarah Davies

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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).

Babolin Theatre: To Avoid Precipice Cling to Rock

Babolin Theatre: To Avoid Precipice Cling to Rock

Babolin Theatre: To Avoid Precipice Cling to Rock

This skilled tongue-in-cheek comedy teeters on the brink of musical theatre and mines the genre for all it is worth. The performances of the all-female ensemble cast are notably tight and professional, with well-constructed vocal harmonies and some very effective and humorous choreography. We follow the group as they journey across a mountain in search of the truth about Berta, a member of their party lost down a precipice a year to the day. Along the way they encounter both physical and emotional obstacles, including a hilarious ‘mountain man’, and never without an accompanying song!

Striking elements here include an advanced use of physicality – sleeping bags become cavernous spaces, bodies create unusual tableaux and pace is used to great effect. The timing of such movements is absolute and breathtaking, with an element of surprise that is invigorating to watch. Heightened characterisation and effective use of facial expressions enhance the strong performances, enabling the farcical narrative to gain an avalanche of momentum that sweeps the audience along nicely for the most part. Each role is well defined and shaped, with stand-out characters for me being Freda and Trudy in terms of line delivery and communication with the audience. The climax of the piece was a slight sticking point, where dialogue could perhaps have been tempered a little to avoid a ‘wall of noise’ which momentarily disengaged me. However, in all this is an extremely well executed and humorous piece, with accomplished performances and a satisfyingly abstract tone.

www.babolintheatre.co.uk

Lu Kemp: One Thousand Paper Cranes ¦ Photo: Gary Lynass

Lu Kemp: One Thousand Paper Cranes

Lu Kemp: One Thousand Paper Cranes ¦ Photo: Gary Lynass

Constructed with as much care and attention as the complex origami within the play, this visually stunning piece explores the real-life story of Sadako Sasaki, a twelve year-old Japanese girl who fell terminally ill in 1955 as a result of radiation sickness from the Hiroshima disaster. Hope unfolds in the form of Sadako’s best friend Chiziko, who becomes transfixed with the legend that constructing 1000 origami paper cranes will grant the maker their greatest wish. The play explores this endeavour, focusing on the process far more than the end result, echoing the programme notes’ premise that the journey ‘carries its own gift’.

Production values here are slick, with accomplished performances and excellent use of multi-rolling. Real highlights are the innovative use of props to create visual images and the skilled way in which the two adult actors (Julia Innocenti as Sadako and Rosalind Sydney as Chiziko) effectively capture the nuances and personalities of their twelve year-old characters. Indeed, each character in this play has a strongly defined need, and the stakes are raised higher and higher throughout, thanks to some clever and engaging writing and a well thought-out structure.

Lu Kemp’s direction effectively captures the character’s physicality and the use of space and proxemics is a strong point. I would have liked to have seen some of the key images and moments mined a little further for maximum effect, particularly the notion of the stage being flooded with paper cranes and Chiziko’s reaction to her friend’s demise. However, in all this is a strong piece in its tone and its use of humour and heightened characterisation to tell a moving and poignant story with theatrical panache.

www.1000papercranes.weebly.com

Folded Feather: Life Still ¦ Photo: Craig Hull

Folded Feather: Life Still

Folded Feather: Life Still ¦ Photo: Craig Hull

Set following an unspecified catastrophic event, this highly aesthetic abstract performance without words utilises some clever object manipulation and evocative soundscapes to create a disturbing and confusing world. Attention to detail is absolute; every movement that the two performers make is painstakingly delivered and totally committed. Possibly more like a performance installation than a theatrical work, the piece raises science fiction themes of war and its aftermath through a series of symbolic moving images.

Both the narrative and its throughline are hugely open to interpretation, and thus the level of focus that the piece demands of its audience is on a par with that demonstrated by the skilled performers. In some respects, herein lies the problem. With painstaking movements and dogged pace, the piece at times feels difficult to engage with or to find enough to fully sustain one’s attention. The skill and imagination in the piece cannot be denied, and is of credit to the performers, but the question paramount in my mind is this: who is this performance constructed for? Communication to the audience was patchy at times, with some of the props being too small for us to really see and the performers so very much in their own, all-encompassing world that they didn’t always reach me.

www.foldedfeather.com