Lowri Jenkins - Invisible City

Lowri Jenkins: Invisible City

Lowri Jenkins - Invisible CityThis one-woman show written and performed by Lowri Jenkins is very simply staged using translucent vertical blue drapes and quite a lot of lemons. Chronicling a young woman’s transition from rural to big city life – through a series of phone calls to her mum, visits to the shop, and attempts to find work (and love) – Lowri Jenkins uses voice, physicality, voiceover, and lemons to create an internal and external portrait of the joys and difficulties of ‘transitioning’.

Lowri’s presentation is accomplished and completely engaging. She begins brilliantly haltingly right at the front of the stage, keeping the audience in a moment of high suspense before launching into her first conversation with her mother, whose voice we never get to hear ourselves. This device parallels and counterpoints beautifully with her visits to the shop, where all we get to hear is the increasingly absurd corporate announcements. Lowri’s face is a picture as she listens with excitement and innocence to the wonders of the loyalty card offer.

Increasingly struggling to hold herself together in her new environment, the movement choreography, text, and lighting all combine to create a build of anxiety and pressure which climaxes in the spurring and absurd image of lemons – which have been suspended above the stage (in shopping baskets) – raining down on the hapless girl. Soon Lowri finds herself forced to fictionalise – to start making up a great life and lovely boyfriend in a bid to keep her mother from finding out how tough she is finding everything. This show has enough dramaturgy to support the more expressionistic parts of the performance and keeps us on the edge of our seats from beginning to end.