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

Iris - Review - The People's Theatre

Iris

People's Theatre
10th Sept 2019

I saw Iris when it was first performed at Live Theatre and I remember it as a darkly funny, emotional and tragic piece of theatre. Going along to see it again this week, I did wonder if it would have the same impact - after all, I already knew the plot with all its twists and turns, so there would be no surprises. But, written by Alison Carr one of the stalwarts of  The People's Theatre, this is a play that was coming home. It was bound to be something special.

A play that explores family and relationships, the nature of motherhood, love and hate, responsibility, abandonment, guilt, success and failure, it covers a huge spectrum. And performed in the studio, with a cast of just three, and with some of the action taking place within arm's length of the audience it was always going to be intense.

Two sisters have just buried their mother - Iris. Julie the elder has been away for many years, and had a difficult relationship with Iris, while Ruby, the youngest has been very close to Iris; perhaps too close. On the day of the funeral Julie disappears from the wake and returns later, drunk, with a man in tow.

Emma Weetch plays the older sister Julie - a mess of contradictions, desperate for some human contact yet rejecting any show of affection or sense of connection when it is offered. She is scratchy and awkward and at times downright abusive. But there are cracks in her armour that begin to spread and widen as the play progresses.

Stephen Sharkey gives a deceptively understated performance as Gerry, the unfortunate man caught up in the middle as the two sisters fight and spit a each other like cats. Equally desperate for human contact but in a completely different way to Julie, he hides behind an array of bad jokes and astonishing facts on almost any subject - like a walking encyclopaedia. He offers advice for every situation sounding as Ruby puts it "like a self help book". Of the three characters, he is the most likable and yet also the saddest and perhaps most tragic with his doggedly optimistic veneer hiding a lonely and sorrowful life.

Sarah Mulgrew plays the younger, damaged teenager, Ruby. Like Julie , she is damaged emotionally and psychologically, but Ruby is also physically damaged - having lost an eye in a childhood accident. From her first appearance on stage Sarah Mulgrew exudes a mix of angst and apathy and teenage antipathy. Though all three actors gave brilliant performances, Sarah was the outstanding performance of the night for me - she was completely convincing in her role.

Though I knew what was coming I was still entirely engaged throughout the play - anticipating some of the events and recognising and remembering others as they happened. The second act almost had me in tears as the truth of the sisters situation began to be revealed. it was a highly charged, emotional experience.

An excellent start to the new season, Iris plays until Saturday, and is sold out.  If you have a ticket, you are in for a rare treat - take your tissues. If you don't have a ticket, get your name down on the waiting list and hope someone else cancels!

Denise Sparrowhawk

Spark Plug - Review - Live Theatre

Spark Plug 

Live Theatre

14th March 2019 

David Judge is one talented person, the writer and performer tells his story without really focusing on himself.

The stage is set up like a garage with a climbing frame car which certainly creates a centrepiece to the play.

Based in and around Manchester the play focuses on the relationship between David and his step dad (Dave) who is white, working class.

Dave is not seen yet you seem to have a picture of what he is like by the end.
We hear about David's Mum, Joanne who is also white.
And we hear about Dave's Real Dad (Ainsley) who is Black, making David Half Cast which in Manchester would probably be a great disadvantage. 

His situation is then made worse when his mother starts to date women!

Set in the early 90s it asks some great questions like - is blood thicker than heart? 

Having a strong relationship with my Dad (biologically related to me) and also having a step father who I've not had the strongest relationship with, I feel this show illustrates just how different as people we can be. 

With only one man on stage at all times this show manages to be packed with action and excitement - and even working windscreen wipers! This play allows you to go on a journey with Dave through David. It is 70 minutes of my life that, if I could, I would definitely repeat! 

The team behind the scenes deserve much praise, as you can't create anything this good on your own and the technical staff, sound and lighting, and direction all contribute to the success of the finished production. 

Directed by Hannah Tyrrell - Porter

Designed by Katie Scott 
With Sound by Richard Owen and Lighting by Chris James and Many Many More.

Another show not to be missed - it runs until Saturday 16th of March.

Reuben (Rubes) Hiles

Picture credit: Live Theatre/Decoy Media

Rattle Snake - Live Theatre - Review

Rattle Snake

Live Theatre
26th September 2017

Presented by Open Clasp Theatre
Written by Catrina McHugh
Directed by Charlotte Bennett


Rattlesnake - a venomous snake, with a potentially deadly bite, makes a noise like a rattle to ward off its predators. Snakes are hypnotic creatures, not all are dangerous, but some are. The rattlesnake is dangerous and duplicitous, rattling to warn you that it is there, rattling to make sure you don't interfere.

James rattles. He rattles to control the women in his life, he rattles to keep the neighbours at bay. He rattles to protect himself while he destroys the lives of two women.

This play is mesmerising - from the start, as the two characters beat out a complicated, rhythmic pat-a-cake game, through to the closing scene of this story that has no end. You daren't look away, because you never know what might happen while you are not paying attention.

Rattlesnake is a fictional drama based on truth, an amalgamation of the stories of many women who have endured coercive controlling domestic abuse. Eilidh Talman and Christina Berriman Dawson play the two women snared by one man - James. Together they bring to life the horror and insidiousness of the control he exerts on them. The two women at times speak together, at other times they repeat each other's phrases, marking the parallels between the way their two relationships develop and disintegrate as James manipulates, coerces and threatens them into submission.

The set is simple and stark - the outline of a box-like room, table and chairs. The open sides are symbolic - despite external appearances the women are trapped, unable to escape a prison that most people are not aware of. The single overhead light flickers ominously, brightening and dimming as the atmosphere tightens, and bright floor lights flash like lightning bolts to emphasize pain, or danger or the sudden realisation of a truth. In the background a quiet hypnotic beat echoes the pat-a-cake game and the rattlesnake's warning.

This is superbly directed, produced and acted. The two actresses are utterly convincing in their roles. It is emotional, taut, intense.

Writer Catrina McHugh says "I believe Rattle Snake is important theatre, it takes your breath away and will change lives." Throughout the performance there was barely a sound from the audience - I think we were all holding our collective breath.

Rattle Snake is at Live Theatre until 30th September and then goes on tour around the region so there are plenty of opportunities to experience it. It is important theatre. Don't miss it.

Denise Sparrowhawk

Autumn Tour 2017

• 21 - 30 Sep: Live Theatre, Newcastle www.live.org.uk / 0191 232 1232
• 2 Oct: Rape Crisis @ Morpeth Town Hall rattlesnakerctn.eventbrite.co.uk
• 3 Oct: Teesside University, Middlesbrough 01642 738232
• 4 Oct: Sunderland Stages @ The Royalty Theatre sunderlandstages.co.uk / 0191 561 3455
• 5 Oct: Riverside Community Health Project, Newcastle0191 226 0754
• 9 Oct: Linhope Referral Unit (closed performance)
• 11 Oct: Trinity Academy, Newcastle (closed performance)
• 12 Oct: West End Women & Girls Centre, Newcastle0191 273 4942
• 13 Oct: Durham University
• 17 - 21 Oct: York Theatre Royal yorktheatreroyal.co.uk / 01904 623568
• 24 - 28th Oct: Soho Theatre, London sohotheatre.com / 020 7478 0100

The Vagina Monologues - Review - Royalty Theatre

The Vagina Monologues
Royalty Theatre
27th April 2016

Cast:
Amy Herdman-Burns
Emma McLeary
Beth McAneny
Jude Nelson
Julie Chisholm


The Royalty is staging The Vagina Monologues as its second studio production this season. It's a bold choice but perfectly suited to the intimacy of the studio venue.

The scene is set with a red brick wall as backdrop, no stage and the performance area is incredibly close to the audience making for a close and intimate experience. As the play starts the women are actually seated in the front rows and each stands and joins the others in a conversation about the most intimate part of their anatomy, explaining what the monologues are, how and why they they came about before introducing the first one.

It's brash, it's forward, it's funny. There is much laughter as they list the many names given to vaginas around the country. The women declare their love and loathing, their interest and indifference about this magical, mysterious and monstrous part of their bodies. It is part of us, but it is never spoken about, never touched by us and heaven forbid that we should ever LOOK at it! The monologues, we are told, are a mixture of individual and collective stories. Most are a humorous look at our - and others - attitudes to our vaginas, but some are serious and sad and horrifying. Vaginas, it seems are rarely seen as belonging to the woman whose body it is a part of and the monologues are about us reclaiming, and coming to love what is ours. I was expecting some rank feminism and there certainly is an element of it, but what comes across most is the sadness and confusion that women have felt about their bodies and their lives. The monologues are about finding our identy, and sometimes losing it.

The writing is colourful and frank, and incredibly sensitive and beautiful. The cast do it full justice. presenting the monlogues with such a sense of fun but with seriousness and calm when the script demands it.

I came to this with misgivings, I have been disappointed in the last two productions at the Royalty and was totally unsure that the team here would be able to deliver on this one. But deliver they do - slick production, excellent lighting and sound, and the closeness of the actors to the audience is perfect for the subject matter - providing intimacy and just enough discomfort when eye contact is made! The five women give strong and varied performances. And if on the first night the proximity of the audience and first night nerves got the better of them at times it was barely noticed and expertly dealt with. Nikki Briggs has done a great job directing her cast of women and they have produced an entertaining and thought provoking show.

If the performances in all their productions were as assured and professional as this the theatre would be full every time.
Wednesday was a full house - I recommend booking your ticket in advance - it's worth the booking fee to guarantee you get a seat for this. The Vagina Monologues runs until Sat 30th.

Denise Sparrowhawk