Playlist
The Kings Head Theatre, 4th & 5th March 2018
I’ve always enjoyed showcase evenings of new writing, and have on many occasions championed this format of multiple short works as an enjoyable and rewarding night out at the theatre. Wolab, ‘a working laboratory for artists to create’, have taken this format and put it on steroids as they showcase no less than nineteen short pieces by new writers. An ambitious undertaking requiring, we are told in a short introduction by Artistic Director Alistair Wilkinson, no less than fifty-three creatives to make it happen. Ambitious? Definitely… but it’s all centred around one of the coolest concepts we have heard for a while, with each piece being inspired by a song that has been of some importance to the playwright, with the resulting drama being allowed to run no longer than the duration of the original song from which it has been derived. Awesome, huh!
It comes as no surprise then that WoLab are the innovative production company behind the idea, music having also played a not insignificant part of their previous production ManCub. So impressed was I by the musical selection for that production, that I made an open request to the director in my review, to see if I could be sent that playlist, a request he kindly obliged me with.
It was the nineteen individual playwrights that had control of the playlist this time however, and given that three minutes thirty seconds has long been regarded the optimum duration for a commercially successful song, this evening of new and original writing moved along at a breakneck speed, presenting the audience with so many highly original stories, situations and characters that it would be impossible to review all nineteen here. Needless to say, despite the quality being more than impressive throughout, there were definitely some stand out pieces, such is the nature of these showcase evenings.
Despite this ostensibly being a showcase for new writers, it was just as much a platform for some of the incredible acting talent on display as well, who on occasion were seen performing in pieces they had self-penned, like the multitalented Abby Russell who not only acted in her own monologue, ‘cRave’ inspired by P!ink’s ‘Just Like A Pill’, but also gave a second impeccably timed comedic performance in Rachel Vogler’s ‘For Heaven’s Cake!’ Inspired by The Lion King’s ‘Hakuna Matata’, a song that somehow lead the playwright to write a story about a woman too heavy to get into heaven. Both parts saw Abby displaying shades of a modern day Victoria Wood, such was the quality of her performance.
More comedy could be found in the wonderfully observed ‘Friday, 6.23pm’ by Ben Butler (inspired by Frank Oceans ‘Self Control’), a duologue between a onetime dating gay couple (Sam Cormor and Lawrence Smith) who find themselves dealing with residual emotions they still have for each other when meeting for the first time since their split. Andy McCredie is another notable actor/writer giving an impressive performance in his own self-penned monologue, ’Dark Before Dawn’, where he recounts a drug fuelled night, a story he somehow surprisingly derives from Frank Sinatra’s ‘Fly Me Two The Moon’. You can begin to get some idea of the imaginative smörgåsbord of new work being performed, and the songs that planted the seeds for the diverse range of stories that are anything but a mere dramatisation of the song itself.
Unfortunately, this leads me to my one small criticism of the evening, that being the decision to play a short extract of the song that inspired the playwright at the end of each play instead of the beginning. Despite the programme having listed the titles of the 19 plays, along with the songs that inspired them and the playwright of each, this was too much information to commit to memory in the short time before the lights went down, and despite my best attempts I found myself somewhat distracted, unable to prevent my mind from wanting to play detective as I tried to work out which song was the inspiration for each performance, looking for clues as the drama played itself out to see if I could “guess the song”. I don’t think I was alone in this activity as several times I noticed other members of the audience squinting at the programme to try and find out which track related to the piece they were watching, only to refocus their gaze back onto the stage having failed to make out the words of the programme in the subdued light of the theatre. Given the short amount of time each play had to make it’s mark, this seemed an unnecessary, albeit partially self-imposed distraction that might have been better avoided had the song clips been allowed to run at the top of each piece.
That said, there was no ignoring the incredibly high standard of both the writing and acting on display here, and as strong as some of the aforementioned monologues were, it was a few of the two-handers that became my personal highlights of the evening. ‘Truffles’ by Niamh O’Brien was a strange comedic delight, ‘You Scratch My Back And I’ll Scratch Yours’ by Dominic Crisp was another hilarious tour de force, although I will have to listen to Yves Tumor’s ‘The Feeling When You Walk Away’, to see if I can work out how it inspired a story of two straight guys managing to convince themselves that mutual masturbation is the way to go in the absence of any female company. It was however ’Shift Work’ by Dean Elliott that provided the most memorable moment of the night. Inspired by The Fall’s song of the same name, this skilfully written piece about a couple unable to prevent the circumstances of their working life leading to the unavoidable demise of their relationship is both beautifully written and was emotionally performed by Katharine Jee and Gethin Alderman.
I sincerely hope the rumoured repeat of this format does take place as this evening has only cemented what a fan I am of these showcase events. (repeat and fade)
★★★★
