Jet Set Go!

Jet Set Go!
Take Note Theatre
Book and Lyrics by Jake Brunger
Music and Lyrics by Pippa Cleary
Directed by Luke Sheppard
Musical Direction by Candida Candicot
Jermyn Street Theatre
Closes 18th April 2009

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for the British Theatre Guide

It’s been a while since we’ve seen some aircraft based entertainment. Not since the reality programmes about Easy Jet and Ryan Air and does anyone remember a young Alan Cummings in the sitcom The High Life?

Jet Set Go! had its premiere in Edinburgh in 2008 and has now flown into London for a short run at the Jermyn Street Theatre – hot on the feet of the extremely well received Saturday Night. Jake Brunger’s script is not by any means ground breaking; it simply follows the lives of cabin crew on their flight to New York and back and lets the larger than life characters take over.

Jet Set Go! really is as camp as it gets and it is unashamedly so. A fantastically kitsch set transports you from economy class to the cock pit to a New York City sky line and of course a good old song and dance always ensures a gay old time.

Memorable songs include “What Do You Actually Do?” “If I Could Find A Boy” and “Cabin Fever”, however Pippa Cleary’s score whilst always fun, lacks sophistication at times. Whilst more accomplished composers will weave a repeated melody throughout various songs in a score, leaving you in no uncertain terms that all songs belong to that show, Cleary’s score lacks unity and is a tad hit and miss. However any criticisms become irrelevant when you discover that Cleary is still at university and has miraculously composed this score whilst studying for her degree. If this is the quality of her work at such a young age, the future looks very promising indeed for Cleary.

An enthusiastic cast brings this production to life with Mark Evans who was seen earlier this year as one of the finalists on Your Country Needs You stealing the show. With his good looks and powerful vocals, Evans screams leading man. His subtle performance is a breath of fresh air whilst all those around him ham it up. Of course that’s part of this show’s charm, and it does require a heightened performance from some characters and boy do they deliver. John McManus is outrageously camp as Ryan as he minces about like a true queen. Amy Coombes is delightfully entertaining as the girl from “The Valley” Hayley who’s desperate to find love. In true Gavin and Stacey style she plays on the hilarity of the Welsh accent, however the character would benefit from her toning it down slightly on occasions to allow the truth of this lonely girl to shine through as she is dangerously close to spilling over into caricature. Sadly it’s too late for Emily Sidonie as Julia from Puerto Rico whose frantic performance is as up and down as the turbulence on their plane.

This is still a new show and of course it is going to have its flaws but it’s exciting to hear a new voice emerging in British musical theatre and if this is the start well the sky is the limit.

Cooking With Elvis

Cooking With Elvis
Written by Lee Hall
Directed by John Plews
Upstairs at the Gatehouse
14th March – 19th April

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for the British Theatre Guide

It’s fairly rare to find an Elvis impersonator and a tortoise sharing a stage and yet here we have it in Lee Hall’s Cooking with Elvis. First staged at the 1999 Edinburgh fringe festival with a subsequent transfer to the West End Cooking with Elvis is back in London serving up a tasty treat.

Lee Hall, best known for writing the screenplay for the film Billy Elliot tells a very dark but funny tale of ‘Dad’ – a wheelchair bound “cripple” (the result of a terrible crash) who dreams of being an Elvis tribute act. Meanwhile his wife and daughter Jill antagonise each other as they struggle to cope with their inner frustrations.

I’m not sure if it’s the voice of Big Brother or Cheryl Cole on the X Factor but there is something about the Geordie accent that makes you pay attention and Hall’s dialogue in Cooking with Elvis is no different. You cannot help but be drawn into the conversations of this dysfunctional family.

Whilst the activities in this Northern household are utterly bizarre, the dialogue remains completely normal, thus making the events that unfold all the more peculiar.

It is hard to believe this Mother and daughter are related as Mam refuses to eat and drinks herself into oblivion while fourteen year old Jill finds solace in the kitchen cooking and eating everything she can get her hands on. When Mam invites her twenty-eight year old lover, Stuart, to move into the family home with her, her daughter Jill, her paralysed husband and their tortoise things go from the bizarre to the completely surreal as Stuart gets a little too close with Jill and goes above and beyond in an attempt to “help” Dad out. Not to mention the breakout Elvis moments that punctuate the piece when Dad springs to life performing various Elvis Presley songs, to which the family are completely oblivious to.

Despite first impressions this is a pretty depressing script and director, John Plews achieves just the right amount of tongue in cheek attitude. The cast expertly tread that tightrope of finding humour without indulging it. Catherine Nix-Collins in particular is superb as a troubled teenager, struggling to digest the enormity of what is going on around her and her skilful negotiation of constantly eating throughout the majority of her dialogue is to be applauded.

Cooking with Elvis has all the ingredients for a hit and lets face it, Mario Kombou is petty much the closest you’ll ever get to seeing Elvis in Highgate. Over the top costumes and a voice that has been officially endorsed by Graceland; he’s a pretty good substitute for the real thing.

Yours Abundantly, From Zimbabwe

Yours Abundantly, From Zimbabwe
Oval House – Downstairs Theatre
Directed by Annie Castledine and Ben Evans
Running dates: 30th September – 18th October

Reviewed by rachel Sheridan for Whatsonstage.com

In 2002, just before the elections Gillian Plowman made a trip to Zimbabwe which resulted in a correspondence between a young orphan named Enock and many other orphans. This was the inspiration for the monologue; Boniface and Me, which under the superb and sensitive direction of Annie Castledine and Ben Evans has been work shopped to produce Yours Abundantly, From Zimbabwe.

A large circular platform pivots in the centre of the raked stage. Nell and her daughter Georgia appear on this circular platform; the centre of this rapidly declining world. Nell, like Plowman has struck up a friendship with a community in Zimbabwe much to the annoyance of her daughter. As Nell becomes inundated with letters and appeals from Zimbabwe she struggles with her motives for wanting to help, whilst facing fierce opposition from her daughter who feels she is as deserving of a mother as these Zimbabwean orphans.

The Zimbabwean community are evoked through the reading of letters. There’s a dedicated headmaster; Boniface and his activist wife, orphans forced to grow up and a young girl desperate to be educated. The performances are incredibly moving, full of desperation, yet full of hope. Aicha Kossoko as Violet Masunda (the wife of Boniface) gives an incredibly powerful speech in resistance to Mugabe’s regime. Life in Zimbabwe is so bleak and the courage of the people who live there is remarkable. As you sit in your comfortable seat in the theatre one struggles with the feelings of sadness and guilt but Plowman’s writing is coloured with humour in her depiction of life in Zimbabwe.

Gillian Wright’s tortured Nell is desperate to help but bombarded by requests to do so. How much can one person do? Why is she doing this? Haunted by feelings of guilt, she wonders if she is trying make up for failures within her own family by buying her way into the hearts of this community.

Hannah Boyde’s, Georgia provides an interesting perspective into the different kinds of problems we have to deal with in the Western world. Plowman in no way degrades the emotions of this bitter young woman who really just wants to know that her Mother loves her, however it certainly is a harsh reality check.

Yours Abundantly, From Zimbabwe, does not preach and it does not take you on a guilt trip but it does remind you of what is happening right now in that place you may choose to ignore as you flick to another channel when it appears on the news.

The Walworth Farce

The Walworth Farce
By Enda WalshDruid

RNT Cottesloe

September 2008

Review by Rachel Sheridan for the British Theatre Guide

The world Enda Walsh paints is extreme and the characters that inhabit it even more so. Initially you may look at such a depiction and think it a complete exaggeration but then you turn on the news and you see it all over again.

The Walworth Farce wrenches you into the theatrical world of Dinny (Denis Conway) and his two sons Sean (Tadhg Murphy) and Blake (Garrett Lombard). For over ten years these three men have been recreating the same event, the day they left Cork for London, every single day in their small, dirty flat on the Walworth Road. Every minute is dedicated to re-imagining each moment from that day all those years ago and in doing so they have completely lost touch with reality.

Dinny has turned his sons into willing prisoners, petrified of the outside world. Only Sean leaves the house each day to go to Tesco to buy the necessary food and props for their performance but he always returns, too fearful to explore any further. However it is on the day that we witness this terrifyingly funny production of theirs that the outside world finds a way in with horrific consequences.

The flat is disgusting. Yellow walls, peeling wallpaper, greasy cupboards and filthy floors are the stage on which these men perform their tale. The performances of Conway, Murphy and Lombard are all exceptional as the three men dart about the stage reinacting various roles, switching wigs and accessories and holding a coat in one hand and a hat in another to illustrate other characters. Conway as Dinny is both the perpetrator and victim. His anguish is simultaneously hilarious and painful to watch as his desire to love and protect these boys smothers and destroys them. Murphy as Sean is incredibly endearing with his big dopey eyes and ridiculous haircut, as is Lombard with his powerful performance as the confused and frustrated Blake. Their naivety is touching and heartbreaking, making you burst out laughing one minute and be close to tears the next.

This completely insane scenario that has become normality to these men is yanked right out of its comfort zone with the arrival of Hayley played by the utterly adorable Mercy Ojelade; her non-stop chatter initially making her unaware of what she has entered into.

Walsh takes comedy to the edge and then leaps right off. His portrayal of the normally unseen aspects of society is unnervingly funny and extremely poignant. He pulls back the curtain on family domesticity revealing that life is not always like the Waltons.

The Song Book Revue

The Song Book Revue
The Delphi Theatre Company
Camden Etcetera Theatre
17th May 2009

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for the British Theatre Guide

Musical theatre has absolutely seen a revival in recent years thanks to the influx of reality programmes in which we the audience hand pick our cast. There has never been a lack of musical theatre performers but now there is certainly an ever growing audience to pack out not only the big West End shows but also the smaller fringe productions which showcase London’s emerging talent.

The Song Book Revue is an example of such show. Without question it is a testament to the hard work and dedication of these young performers and whilst it may not be perfect that doesn’t really matter as it’s just a great opportunity for both performers and composers to get their work out there.

I said it doesn’t matter if it’s perfect which is just as well as The Song Book Revue is far from that. There are some questionable lyrics, some unmemorable melodies and some rather cheesy performances but on the other hand there are songs that show real promise and some cracking voices.

“Straits of Magellan” is a lovely narrative piece performed beautifully by Josh Boyd-Rochford and Cristin Curtin’s emotional rendition of “I Won’t Mind” by Jeff Blumenkrantz is a touching moment. However on the flip side there are also songs such as the completely unimaginative “Reunion” by S. Carlile & Linda Rocco O’Connell.

This small cast work well together even if the harmonies aren’t always spot on and it does tend to be a little sickly sweet at times. Musical theatre may not be the edgiest of performance styles but there are a little too many cute smiles and nods to each other for my liking, combined with the mystified, slightly startled expressions that spread across the cast’s faces as they look above the audience feigning sincerity.

However despite these criticisms, ultimately The Song Book Revue is a charming evening of entertainment and as worthy of our attention for spotting new talent as any reality show.

The Family (Semiankii)

The Family (Semiankii)

Written and interpreted by Teatr Licedei
Hackney Empire
Running Dates: 9th September – 27th September

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for whatsonstage.com

Teatr Licedei origins lie in political physical theatre with past works including a manifestation against nuclear danger. In recent years however they have turned their hand to clowning, which in today’s current climate is actually incredibly apt.

The Family (Semianyki) aims to explore daily Russian life through depicting a family of six with four naughty children, their grumpy father and pregnant mother, who still craves romance with her husband.

Initially The Family is akin to a great big toy box full of all your favourites: silly costumes, crazy hair and make up and a stage strewn with brick a brack. However it’s when you play with these toys that the fun really starts and sadly Teatr Licedei and I have very different ideas on what constitutes fun.

The action primarily revolves around a father who is constantly threatening to walk out on his family as he reaches the end of his tether with his naughty children. This is certainly realistic but a little strange for a children’s show. Scene after scene depicts their various antics, some of which make sense others which are completely random; pillow fights, conducting an imaginary orchestra and drawing on an invisible blackboard to name a few.

There is also a strange mix of naturalistic performance integrated into the clowning with the mother constantly dancing in a sexual manner trying to seduce her tired husband. The use of some props also felt a little uneasy at times with guns and saws used to threaten violence and the children smoking their father’s cigarettes to antagonise him. Returning to the main focus of the play, this may be reflective of life in Russia and whilst it is executed in a silly manner it doesn’t always feel suitable viewing for children

One may say that this is the perfect show for children as the way in which kids play is nonsensical. However with a running time of two hours, some structure is necessary to hold a child’s attention and whilst the children in the audience certainly seemed to be amused it was not by any means the enchanted audience that other kids shows such as The Gruffalo can achieve. Although I have to comment that Act 2 does redeem itself slightly with a great deal of audience interaction, yanking back the attention of any children whose minds have clearly started to wonder.

A show for kids, perhaps, but unfortunately my inner child was not enticed out by The Family.

The Exqusite Corpse

The Exqusite Corpse
Southwark Playhouse
True/fiction theatre company
Director – Matt Peover
5th -30th May

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for the British Theatre Guide

Most of us have played a game of consequences at some stage. You draw a head, fold the paper over then pass it on to someone who draws the torso who then folds it over and passes it to someone who draws the legs etc, revealing a rather unusual creation at the end. The surrealists called this game Le Corpse Exquisite which is the inspiration for true/fiction Theatre Company’s The Exquisite Corpse. However rather than a piece of paper in this instance it is scenes written by various writers which are performed in a different order each night.

On paper this sounds incredibly unique and exciting. Five writers have individually written scenes in isolation. There are reoccurring themes such as death and water as some writers were inspired by the same materials but ultimately they stand alone and come together to create one piece. As the audience are waiting to go into the theatre they are surrounded by objects which represent each scene. The audience are free to move these objects around, thus determining the order that these scenes will play in, therefore each performance is completely unique. As I said this sounds great on paper however the execution of it is another matter.

Surrealist work often features the element of surprise with unexpected juxtapositions. They present a distorted version of the world in order to reveal the truth. However the problem with The Exqusite Corpse lies in the difficulty to derive any meaning from what you are seeing. Yes there are a motife of reoccuring themes, the peformances are good and there really are some nice little scenes however as a piece it feels very disconnected and ultimatley somewhat pointless.

Director Matt Peover discusses the infinate possibilites in which the scenes may unfold, yet even if the scenes were told in the same order every night the piece would remain illogical. Believe me I am not desperate to see a linear narrative with a beginning, middle and end, in fact it would perhaps be more interesing to take a piece of theatre written with a linear narrative and let the audience jumble those scenes up every night to see what emerges. However when the scenes are already detached from one another as they are with this piece, aside from it being a great challenge for the peformers, little extra is added by mixing them up.

One may think I am missing the point of The Exqusite Corpse and that the very nature of the piece is that it be non-sensical. It is true that the Surrealist movement did not concern itself itself with logical reason or thought, however they did wish to ignite passion in those who witnessed its works and sadly The Exqusite Corpse, despite some interesting moments fails to keep that flame alive.