Review - The Rise and Fall of Little Voice - Royalty Theatre

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice 

Royalty Theatre 

29th October, 2024

Written by Jim Cartwright

Directed by Andrew Barella and Aidan Evans

Juggling work and life is proving to be something of a challenge lately, and has meant that I've not been able to see as much theatre as I would have liked this season, however I'm glad I made time this week to get to the Royalty at Sunderland to see their current production. 

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is described in the programme as a "wonderfully quirky and dark comedy". I like a bit of quirky. And I like a bit of dark comedy. Little Voice is definitely quirky and it is certainly dark. It's one of those strange plays that defies being put in a category - if it was a book, the publisher would struggle to find a nice niche label to shelve it under.  It's a story about people, and relationships, about love and selfishness, and the difference between dreams and ambition. It could so easily have been written as a kitchen sink drama - bleak and unforgiving, but it's saving grace is the humour - dark though it may be. There are two strands to the humour - a crueller, laughing at the characters kind, and a gentler more understanding, recognition kind. 

Mari and Ray are not nice people; they are self-centred, self-involved, ambitious only for their own success, interested only in what they can gain from a situation. And, we laugh at the manifestation of their shallowness, and feel at the end, they get what they deserve. 

Little Voice and Billy are two lost souls in this world, trying to navigate a way through, and at the mercy of the wolves. We recognise their humanity and we smile at their awkwardness and innocence. They have each created an escape from the difficulties of their lives. Billy perhaps more successfully than Little Voice, but in achieving his dream, he is able to help LV find hers. Their developing relationship brings us a sweeter humour. 

Billy, played by Matthew Pegden, is a such a lovable character, and Pegden plays him beautifully, from his first awkward words to his final assertive support for LV.  While Chantelle Taggart captures the two sides of Little Voice perfectly - the shy, reclusive girl, who barely speaks, and the girl who can transform into her favourite singers. It's a tall order to not only sing well, but to also sound like some of the greatest female singers of all time. Chantelle achieves all of this with ease. 

As well as challenging the actors, this play is also a challenge for the set designers - they have created a set on two levels (three if you include Billy's telegraph pole!) to incorporate the kitchen and living room as well as LV's bedroom sanctuary. Light and sound are crucial and the music played and lights dimmed on cue! 

There's a lot to contend with in this play and the team at the Royalty have met the challenges head on. 

It runs until Sat 2nd November, tickets can be purchased in advance at  www.royaltytheatre.co.uk or on the door. 

Denise Sparrowhawk 

Review - Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - People's Theatre

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 

People's Theatre

22nd October, 2024

Written by David Edgar

Directed by Andy Aiken and Helen Doyle

This month's offering from The People's Theatre is a bit of ghoulish Victorian melodrama - an adaptation by David Edgar of R L Stevenson's Strange Tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. And a strange tale it is indeed. 

Dr Edward Henry Jekyll is a scientist with a growing reputation. He is invited to speak at learned symposiums, and holds earnest discussions over dinner with his equally learned friends. He is a benevolent uncle, showering gifts on his niece and nephew and playing boisterous games with them. He is clearly adored by them, and loved by their mother, his sister. He is pious, and abstemious, declining to drink alcohol on a Sunday. We surely could not meet a more wholesome man? And yet, there are hints...his beloved sister sports an eye-patch, and the father he looked up to, left all his possessions to the daughter, not the son. 

So perhaps this playfulness and piety hide something darker? After all, our introduction to the play came as a conversation between one of Jekyll's esteemed friends and his nephew, who has witnessed a perturbing, violent incident outside the house of Dr Jekyll. 

And indeed it does. Jekyll is ambitious, and driven, but he is also secretive and furtive about his work, and in particular about his father's notebooks. And as we discover, there is much more to Dr Jekyll than meets the eye. Ryan Smith brings to life Jekyll's dual characters - two extremes of a personality; the upright, civilised doctor, and the grotesque, violent alter ego, Mr Hyde. Truth be told, I didn't much like either of them. 

Under the direction of Andy Aiken and Helen Doyle, Smith somehow conveys a sense of something unwholesome in Jekyll while presenting a man of respectability and virtue. And of course Mr Hyde is the embodiment of that unwholesomeness - guttural, angry, quick to take - and give - offence. He is the antithesis of the image Jekyll shows to society. Smith's transformation from the one to the other is astonishing to see, and possibly exhausting to sustain through the play! 

Smith is ably supported by a cast whose civility and politeness towards each other is exemplary, and is in stark contrast to the brutish, carnal behaviour of Hyde. Naturally there will be no good end to this tale - the heinous crimes of Mr Hyde will be the downfall of Dr Jekyll, despite his belated attempts to bring the beast under control. It seems that the baseness of his nature is stronger than his morality. It is perhaps telling that the character who understands, and sees Jekyll best is the maid, Annie (Jenny Davison), herself a dual character, at once naive and wise, daughter of an abusive father, she recognizes something within Jekyll but is unable to articulate it convincingly. She is judged and shunned by her supposed betters and yet she, in the end brings him, tragically, to his senses. 

We should perhaps all take note and strive to keep our baser emotions under control, but not so much so as to cause an imbalance in our natures. And don't drink any suspicious looking potions this Halloween!

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde will be confronting each other at the People's Theatre until Saturday 26th October. Tickets are available here www.peoplestheatre.co.uk .

*Image by Paul Hood

Denise Sparrowhawk