A dyslexic tries her hand at
The Drum, Theatre Royal Plymouth : 24/10/19 7:45pm performance:
Cast: Cryrus – Stanley J Browne Sonny – Reece Pantry Nella – Shenagh Govan Christine – Clare-Louise English Zoe – Evlyne Oyedokun Staging: minimal set up, with a single chair centre stage, a wooden curved frame stood over the chair, carrying props to allow the stage to change from scene to scene. A train board is lit up, implying London Underground – allowing the audience to place the play before it had even begun. The low rumble of underground trains is sounded as we enter, with a slight haze in the air. The lights showing blue and red, creating a purple red hue on the props on stage. The story is told through the perceptive of 5 characters in a series of present time and flash back scenes. In the beginning, we learn that s man ‘Sonny’ has been hit by a train, and are introduced to the train driver 'Cyrus' who was working that day. We start to learn the other characters and their relationship to Sonny as we begun to unwrap the story of what happened that night. With so many unanswered questions about what happened Cyrus going searching. The audience is kept in the dark with Cyrus as he starts to try and piece together the events that lead to that night. We see the flashbacks at the same moments Cyrus is finding the information so we are fully involved on the journey he is going on. During the flash back scenes we also see Sonny in his last few moments with a women he meets ‘Christine’ and has a lavish night together before his paranoia becomes overwhelming. 'Nella' who is Sonny and his sister ‘Zoe's’ adopted mother, is warm yet grieving as we see the void Sonny has left and the difficulty Zoe is having to attempt to fill that. There are subtle comments which allows the audience to infer that she is not their birth mum, until she later plainly states it. This pace allows the fact to be an important part of the story but not become the story itself. The topic of male suicide is still something that is not being talked about so it was an important story to tell. The performance was fully inclusive, with not only a wide representation of different bodies on stage which is especially important to Graeae but also fully accessible for those with disabilities. They offered hearing assistant via the headphones which are available by the door. With spaces offered at the back for wheelchair users. The screens which showed the train times quickly turned into the assessable screens showing each word the actors were saying which left little room for mistakes as the script was being broadcasted to the audience.
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Theatre Royal Plymouth
Running time: 2hr 50mins I was unfamiliar with this particular Shakespeare production before going to see the show so I was going in worried I wouldn't keep up. From entering the staging is impressive with Elizabethan windows and doors covered the width of the stage to create the illusion of the bottom half of a house. The band were up on the balcony and on stage as part of the production with was a really nice element to the whole evening. When the show started I was immediately overwhelmed by the detail and quality of the costumes. Each character had their own style and this was demonstrated through-out the production that demonstrated a clear vision was the costume designer and really made the production flourish. All the performers would wonderful at holding the space on the stage, they had the audience focusing on every word. I was worried I wouldn't follow along but the infliction and movement matched with the language allowed me to follow the story easily and therefor being more accessible to a wider range of an audience. My favourite part of the production were the sheer about of inclusivity demonstrated in the cast. One of the main character is a wheelchair user and it was so wonderful to see this incredible actress be able to demonstrate her talent in mainstream theatre (there currently an overwhelming underrepresentation of disability within mainstream arts). We also had a character who was using BSL (British Sign Language) and her whole scene was done where she signed to a hearing character who gently translated without being patronising or assuming the audience couldn't speak the language. It was a really lovely blend of bringing the two languages together and creating an accessible scene. The whole production was just a higher level of standard that you would expect from the RSC. I was so happy to be able to witness this production and I would suggest if you are not as familiar with Shakespeare these productions are a really good place to start as they are widely accessible. Thank you RSC for allowing those within theatre with disabilities to be seen and represented! December 6th - Theatre Royal Plymouth
Produced by Full Table Description of the piece: A one-woman show that collides stand-up comedy, spoken word, and movement. Emily Jane Rooney shares her ridiculous experiences around body positivity and what life has been like growing up as a working-class fat woman… from Essex. I had the pleasure of watching 'Big Girl' in the Lab at TRP, having previously seen the production during the Plymouth Fringe it was amazing to see how it had developed to the piece it is today. When the audience arrive they are personally welcome by Emily, as she drinks tea and offers out biscuits creating a homely and warm atmosphere from the beginning. The lights are soft and there is already a timeline written in chalk on the floor showing different periods of Emily's life. The space is set up with a few mics hanging or standing and the audience are sat on both sides looking onto the stage. The title itself 'Big Girl' provides the audience a context to the performance identity, with an understanding it would be autobiographical. The piece begins with Emily singing along to an upbeat song and continues the positive energy in the space as she negotiates 'not fitty' in the space under the mic. She continues to take the audience through anecdotal memories in her life as we follow her down the timeline on the floor. She manages to combine the heart felt spoken word with the hilarious bits about herself. I honestly went from laughing until my stomach hurt to quietly sobbing as she softly speaks of moments that her and her girlfriend share. My favourite quote from the piece 'I don't know where I'm going but I hope it's fucking nice' sums up the final moments as Emily explored what comes next for her in a world post graduation. I could honestly watch this piece over and over and never get bored of the joy, laughter and maturity she brings every single night. I would definitely suggest this show to anyone it's so incredible. Follow Emily on Instagram: @emjrooney |
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