I have met the enemy (and the enemy is us) - Review - Byker Community Centre

I have met the enemy (and the enemy is us)

Byker Community Centre
17th Oct 2019

A Common Wealth/Northern Stage production

Staged in the upper room of Byker Community Centre, this is a theatre experience with a difference. There is no stage, and no seats, we are invited to move around the space, interact with the actors and each other, but not to touch anything -unless specifically asked to do so... I enter the room, soft music is playing and there are structures with lights dotted around. "Hello, I'm Alex, how are you? Have you been to an arms fair before?" Within minutes I have been greeted by four people, and given advice on personal security by two of them, invited to look around, sample the refreshments and enjoy... Audience participation is not my thing - unless you count booing at the baddie in Panto, but I go with the flow as best I can. I hope I won't be called on to do more than make small talk.

This is not going to be your average theatre show.

In the prologue of the Arms Fair, we are introduced to the latest technological killing machines by a series of salesmen with slick sales patter where names such BAE and Rolls Royce are dropped into the conversation. And then the narrative moves to the more personal stories - of Alex, a British soldier, veteran of the Afghan conflict, Mo'min, a Palestinian from the West Bank, an actor, now living in London, and Shatha, an artist in Yemen, who appears via a pre-recorded video. They tell of their own experiences of war, of air strikes, of guns and bombs. Each one told from a different perspective, each one very personal. Each one painful. And each one the direct result of British arms deals.

Their stories are enhanced ad illustrated with the strange ticking light box props. These it transpires are metronomes. There are seventy two of them, representing the seventy two Eurofighter jets sold to Saudi Arabia and used in Yemen. The ticking of the metronomes echoes the Domesday Clock, ticking down to the destruction of mankind.

I Have Met The Enemy is hard -hitting, political theatre. It does not pull punches. But it is also compassionate and human, even as it highlights the inhumanity of the arms trade. These are real people, and their experiences are real. Their losses are real. Their fears are real. Their stories draw you in, you are delighted by the thought of Alex's mother walking her dog in Wales, of Mo'min out with the sheep and the horse, and of Shatha dancing at a wedding. But, they pull no punches - just as you settle into the stories, a gun is levelled, or a grenade is thrown, or an airstrike hits. Blood mixes with jasmine flowers.

It raises so many issues, asks so many questions, and leaves us uncomfortable, thinking about the consequences of war, and our part in it.

You can meet the enemy at Byker Community Centre until Saturday 26th Oct.

Denise Sparrowhawk

Clear White Light -Review- Live Theatre

Clear White Light Live Theatre - World Premier 23^rd October

Joe Caffrey and Bryony Corrigan (Live Theatre)

Clear white light is named after a Lindisfarne song and is a cross between a gig and a play. Music  is played by a live band, most of whom are also characters in the play. It’s set in an all male hospital ward, with patients having a variety of mental health difficulties. The main characters are Rod - a male staff nurse in his 50s played by Joe Caffrey, - and a student nurse Alison, played by Bryony Corrigan, who recently stared in Live’s My Romantic History.

Bryony’s ability to convey angst and horror are incredibly impressive and Joe brings a well rounded characterisation to Rod. They both feel very believable. I have personal experience of being a patient in a mental health ward and I can say so much of this play rings true. The Gothic and spooky elements don’t convince me as much as the emotional intelligence of the characters. I can relate to both the experience of the patients and the realism of the nurses. We always wondered if some of the nurses belonged as patients more than we did at times, and this comes across in parts here as there are various meltdowns.

This play was written by Paul Sirett and he has done an excellent job with it. Charlie Hardwick of Emmerdale fame played Maddie (not sure if this was a play on words or not). She also did the majority of the singing in the play, which was great. The remaining cast were also in the band and consisted of Phil Adele (Aaron patient), Alice Blundell (Jo nurse), Dale Jewitt (Charlie), Billy Mitchell (Barry patient / Lindisfarne) and Ray Laidlaw (percussion / Lindisfarne).

I found both the musical element and the play enjoyable, however I am not convinced both elements belong together. A lot of the time the songs seem to have little relevance to that particular part of the play. I found the play element to be the stronger of the two. My friend remarked it was Lindisfarne’s version of Mama Mia.

This play is based on a cross between Edgar Alan Poe’s short story the Fall of the House of Usher and Alan Hull’s music based on his own experience working for the NHS.

Alan Hull had worked in St Nick’s hospital in Gosforth, which at the time inspired many of his songs, many which are used in this play. It’s kind of like a love letter to the NHS and stands very proudly behind the now seventy year old institution, at the end it conveys a very unsubtle message about the NHS, but one that many agree with. I would definitely recommend this, especially if you are fans of Lindisfarne, and don’t worry Fog on the Tyne and Gazza are nowhere in sight.

A solid 7/10.   

Clear White Light it is running at Live until November 10.

Frank Cromartie Murphy

The Pitman Painters - Review - Royalty Theatre

The Pitman Painters

Royalty Theatre
16th May 2017

After a year long wait, I finally got to see this production by the team at the Royalty. Lee Hall's northern classic was scheduled to run last season but unfortunately had to be cancelled at the twelfth hour. I was keen to see how the team at the Royalty tackled the play, especially considering the enforced hiatus.

It is one of my favourite plays, probably because Lee Hall writes with such empathy about the north east. His characters are entirely believable and are written with genuine affection and humour yet he does not sugar coat them. So with the Pitman Painters we have five irascible characters who argue and bicker, sometimes in  fun, sometimes in earnest, yet manage never to fall out altogether despite their disagreements.

They come together for the unlikely purpose of taking an art appreciation class with the WEA. It very quickly becomes clear that the tutor's planned programme is way above the heads of the pitman and so a compromise is found - they will learn to appreciate art through participating in art themselves - they will be painters. It is glorious to see their development from huffy, defensive, reluctant painters into a group who are confident and assured enough to voice their opinions, and to exhibit their art.
Their forthright salt of the earth manner provokes plenty of chuckles from the audience.

There are some fair performances - Kristian Colling as George Brown - the stickler for the rules and regulations, holds the group together, breaking up the arguments when they start to get too earnest, particularly between Harry (Graham Alex) and Jimmy (Michael Fletcher) who just can't see eye to eye about anything. Yet just as often, George stalls the progress of the group when regulations look like they may be contravened.
Matt McNamee takes on the role of Oliver Kilbourn - the pitman who is most affected by the art class. Oliver's character is different to the others, as he struggles inwardly with the idea of becoming something other than a pitman, and this is a challenging first major role for McNamee. He acquitted  himself well, though his performance was lacking some of the emotion I expected from his character. That said he has certainly grown as an actor and I look forward to seeing how he develops in future roles.
David Farn plays the intellectual and rather pretentious art tutor who benefits from the group. There are some lovely moments when he begins to pontificate and is undercut by the pitmen and Mrs Sullivan (Corinne Kilvington).

What makes the show for me is the clear chemistry between Michael Fletcher, Graham Alex and Kristian Colling. Their timing and delivery is almost perfect, and the banter between their three characters acts as a foil for the seriousness of Oliver Kilbourn.

It's a play with a message that is still relevant today though it is set in the mid-20th Century, social class, capitalism, nationalisation, working class aspirations and bourgeois pretensions. Well worth seeing, Pitman Painters runs until Sat 20th May.

Denise Sparrowhawk