Fight Face
Lyric Hammersmith
4 Stars
Running time – 1 hour and a half (no interval)
Running Dates 16th September – 4th October
Lyric Hammersmith
4 Stars
Running time – 1 hour and a half (no interval)
Running Dates 16th September – 4th October
Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for Whatsonstage.com
I walk home and the street is strewn with litter and chicken bones from left over take-aways. Some local teens hanging about on the street are heckling their mate in KFC who is giving the man on the counter a hard time.
It’s almost as if I am a character in Sophie Woolley’s new play, Fight Face. I am surrounded by her inspiration for this very funny although quite depressing when you think about it, depiction of our society.
Morgan Large’s design is the perfect backdrop for Woolley’s high street. Boarded up walls and abandoned corrugated iron covered in graffiti are used to project various images to set the scene. Kebab menus, signs for lap dancing clubs and television sets are all illuminated to set the scene. Characters boil a kettle and rather than see the object in their hands, an image of the boiling kettle flashes up on screen. Or a young mum’s phone rings; again the phone is not in her hands but on the back wall appears a bright pink mobile with flashing graphics blaring Adele’s “Chasing Pavements”. The defining characteristic of this post-modern extravaganza is the captioning that appears throughout for the deaf. Again in keeping with this urban set, images are intercut with the dialogue, such as the logo for coca cola replacing the word itself.
The captioning rather than be a distraction is integrated into the performance and of course allows Fight Face to reach to a larger audience. Something which I imagine is close to Woolley’s heart since she uses a hearing aid herself.
Woolley and David Rubin take on about fifteen different characters matching if not overtaking the pace of the edgy set. A young single mum, a chavvy teen, a tramp, some builders taking it all in and even a cat and dog are just some of the colourful characters you encounter in Fight Face. Although I have to say that posh girl Tabitha, living in cutting edge East London and the poor kebab shop owner are my favourites.
So different in many ways, yet highlighting their similarities by playing all the characters themselves, Woolley and Rubin skilfully navigate the transition between roles with incredible energy. Although as all the characters come together it does begin to feel somewhat chaotic and in all the madness some of the energy is in fact lost.
Fight Face is, to quote Tabitha, “a happy slappy” take on life today. It’s fast paced, funny, sad, violent, loving…everything that life is.
It’s almost as if I am a character in Sophie Woolley’s new play, Fight Face. I am surrounded by her inspiration for this very funny although quite depressing when you think about it, depiction of our society.
Morgan Large’s design is the perfect backdrop for Woolley’s high street. Boarded up walls and abandoned corrugated iron covered in graffiti are used to project various images to set the scene. Kebab menus, signs for lap dancing clubs and television sets are all illuminated to set the scene. Characters boil a kettle and rather than see the object in their hands, an image of the boiling kettle flashes up on screen. Or a young mum’s phone rings; again the phone is not in her hands but on the back wall appears a bright pink mobile with flashing graphics blaring Adele’s “Chasing Pavements”. The defining characteristic of this post-modern extravaganza is the captioning that appears throughout for the deaf. Again in keeping with this urban set, images are intercut with the dialogue, such as the logo for coca cola replacing the word itself.
The captioning rather than be a distraction is integrated into the performance and of course allows Fight Face to reach to a larger audience. Something which I imagine is close to Woolley’s heart since she uses a hearing aid herself.
Woolley and David Rubin take on about fifteen different characters matching if not overtaking the pace of the edgy set. A young single mum, a chavvy teen, a tramp, some builders taking it all in and even a cat and dog are just some of the colourful characters you encounter in Fight Face. Although I have to say that posh girl Tabitha, living in cutting edge East London and the poor kebab shop owner are my favourites.
So different in many ways, yet highlighting their similarities by playing all the characters themselves, Woolley and Rubin skilfully navigate the transition between roles with incredible energy. Although as all the characters come together it does begin to feel somewhat chaotic and in all the madness some of the energy is in fact lost.
Fight Face is, to quote Tabitha, “a happy slappy” take on life today. It’s fast paced, funny, sad, violent, loving…everything that life is.
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