Spur of the Moment @ Re:play, 16.01.15

I’m back again making myself at HOME for another segment of the ever impressive Re:play, and I am truly starting to appreciate why the festival has featured the pieces it has. Fluid writing and strong acting is without question, but the real quality of the festival’s programme is that the work gets the audience talking. And if I where to put money on it, I would bet Deaf Dog’s production of Spur of The Moment would top the list of the most confabulated.

Written by Anya Reiss at the tender age of 17, it is a play in which its characters are simultaneously toyed by relationships and distance, power and weakness, their truths and lies, all as a result of their desires. It's is a perfect recipe for controversy, and makes for delicious audience commentary.

Delilah (Tilly Slade) has all the traits of a 12 year old: sleepover parties with her friends, imitating High School Musical and looking forward to her 13th Birthday. Just rooms away her parents, Nick (Darren Kemp) and Vicky (Joi Rouncefield), are at loggerheads again over Nick’s recent affair with his ugly, older boss – and to make matters worse, was soon after made redundant. Financially stressed and frustrated the couple take in a 21 year old lodger, Daniel (Jack Alexander) who falls between being a pawn in the parental battle and more disconcerting, a subject for Delilah’s pubescent fancies.

The concurrent theme is staged by the clever use of two transferable doors; these serve to both represent the divide of narratives and crossing of boundaries. A moment that I thought worked particularly well is when Daniel storms between his own room, currently inhabited by his visiting girlfriend (Lucienne Browne) and the room of a now devoted Delilah. A growing danger is evident as Daniel crosses the boundary into Delilah’s room for the first time in the play.

Another interesting notion I found was in the direction of Nick and Vicky and their battles over tea and cloths. The direction of petulant impersonations, “shut ups” and temper tantrums, cast an irony over the seemingly ‘adult’ relationship of the play. This is then exaggerated when Delilah ultimately makes the most conscientious decision and sacrifices what she thinks would make her happy.

Spur of the Moment has an infectious blend of comedy and tension to make you hold your breath or curl your toes. Arguably it sets out to shock, but has an underlying hybrid of “you can’t always get what you want” and “be careful what you wish for”. One thing is for certain – it will get you talking.

Words: Kate Morris

Image: Courtesy of HOME

JB Shorts @ Re:play, 14.01.14

Re:play has returned to serve up seconds of 2014s most delicious pieces of fringe theatre and, with the four course banquet of JB Shorts on the menu, how could I resist? Diets are short lived anyway! The collection of 4 fifteen minute plays are taken from the sold out JB shorts 11 and 12 programmes, and are written by established comedy and drama writers: Jane McNulty, David Isaac, Justin Moorhouse and the collaborative Peter Kerry and James Quinn.

Our petite fours start with the dark and intriguing A Hairline Crack. The piece explores the relationship of two women, living amongst vast tea sets they have hoarded for an un-pursued business venture. Button (Cathy breeze) is trapped in the residence due to immobility, but she gains power and control over Ronnie (Tigga Goulding) by vindictively questioning her whereabouts, making demands and ultimately smashing her dreams. The piece moves with naturalistic normality with an underlying dark motive that surprises both Ronnie and the audience.

Moving to our main course is the full and rich Paradise Island. Abdullah (Abdullah Afzal), an immigrant looking for work on the island, is near banished, until the King (Richard Hand) is besotted with Abdullah’s wife Liz (a show stealing teddy bear). The piece is wonderfully funny but I imagine not to everyone’s taste particularly when the audience are asked to shout the dreaded ‘he’s behind you’. The piece is a guilty pleasure because the components work – a witty script with pace, a cast with impeccable comic timing, and effective audience interaction.

Moorhouse’s serving is Leaky Bacon, the story of a family of women from three generations. Linking together their interactions are monologues, delivered by each character that shares personal insight into their life, secrets and feelings as well as those of the other characters. The script has clear inclination of something truthful and moving but I feel doesn’t have the opportunity to truly flourish in the short time frame.

A Great War is the final offering; a parody of a ‘highlights segment’ of rolling news show depicting the best bits/updates of WWI. The writing is brilliant, bountiful language and hilarious responses get the style and characteristics of the era, with the whole thing executed perfectly by newsreaders Nicolas (Arthur Bostrom) and Victoria (Victoria Brazier).

Full and satisfied from the smorgasbord of theatre, it’s obvious to me why JB appears on the Re:play bill: because variety is the spice of life.

Words: Kate Morris

Images: Courtesy of HOME