at Finborough Theatre, London

“It is a warm glimpse into a cold subject matter“

The award for longest title of the year goes to….  I think you get the gist. Playwright Halley Feiffer is not afraid of words. Her other works include I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard, How To Make Friends And Then Kill Them and Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow.

 The cast

A Funny Thing is set in a hospital unit, brilliantly designed by Isabella Van Braekel. Two mothers are battling ovarian cancer. Their children, strangers at the start, soon make contact across the soul-searching void and strike an unlikely friendship.

What happens over the next few days in the story is bittersweet – in turns hilarious and heartbreaking. The passionate performances are superbly contained within the claustrophobic set, with splendidly clean direction from Bethany Pitts.

Marcie, Karla and Don

The ‘children’ have bottled up so much, they are constrained by their grief. Cariad Lloyd plays the feisty but vulnerable Karla, opposite Peter Crouch’s Don, a grizzly bear with a heart of gold.

Marcie and Karla

Karla’s mother, Marcie, played by Kristin Milward, is spiky, cruel and no-nonsense. Milward pitches the character with just the right sprinkling of bitterness. Whereas Don’s mother, Geena, played by Cara Chase, is the epitome of ‘nice’. If the play has a fault, it is that we don’t get enough time with Geena as a contrast to Marcie’s demanding personality. Instead Geena becomes a bit part.

The whole piece rests on the chemistry between the other three. It is from Feiffer’s heart and genuine – nothing feels false and preachy. It is a warm glimpse into a cold subject matter.

Cariad

4 stars

Paul Vates.

Photographer  James O Jenkins

Producer         Arsalan Sattari

Director           Bethany Pitts

Designer         Isabella Van Braeckel

Venue             Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED

Tube               West Brompton (Overground and District Line)

Performances Until Saturday 27th October

Times              7.30pm Tuesday to Saturday – Sunday Matinees at 3pm

Age                 16+

Tickets            £18 (concessions £16) until 14th October, then £20 / £18

Box Office            www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk and 01223 357851

Running Time 90 minutes (no interval)

Twitter             @FunnyThingPlay, @HalleyFeiffer, @finborough

“The play somehow doesn’t fulfil its potential”

There is a book group, being run by pompous Ralph with his French girlfriend, the arrogant Clemence. Their guests arrive and, although the group has been running for years, so much so that they are all apparently really good friends, there are obvious political differences. Opinionated Stacey, with the heart-on-the-sleeve Frances and optimistic Will soon join the fray. The Brexit referendum is a few days away and there is obviously tension in the room about it.

[Will, Frances, Ralph, Clemence and Stacey]

Then the results come in. Very quickly, there is a split in the group and the Remainers ask the Leavers to leave the group – Stacey and Frances are isolated. People Like Us touches on both crystal clear sides of the European debate, dropping in opinions with the subtlety of a brick in a paddling pool. Written by journalist Julie Burchill and novelist Jane Robins, this is their response to what it feels like to have voted Leave and been shunned by some of their so-called friends.

The set, superbly designed by Holly Best, instantly placing us into Alan Ayckbourn territory. But, sadly, that’s as close as we get to those heady heights. There are glimpses of it, but overall, the play somehow doesn’t fulfil its potential – almost as though it is not quite sure in which direction it should be heading. Am I a comedy about middle class people going through Brexit or a tragedy as ideals clash when mixed with copious amounts of wine and grandiose visions?

[Frances and Will]

This not only affects the flow of the play – which is more or less on the one level and pace – but the actors, too. Knowing how to pitch a performance in this style can be key and, for me, Sarah Toogood (as Frances) and Paul Giddings (as Will) glide through the script in the appropriate manner. They are both likeable and believable within the chaos. Unlike Kamaal Hussain (as Ralph), who doesn’t settle into a specific genre with his character. Marine Andre (as Clemence) has an accent so thick that, sadly, I missed many of her lines and Gemma-Germaine (as Stacey) plays it with too much bitterness and darkness.

[Clemence, Will and Ralph]

There is a glorious, tender scene which is bizarrely played upstage and behind the furniture. Tenderness is lacking in this script as its acerbic wit wants to rule the roost. But it can’t. It simply isn’t funny enough. When the laughs come, they come from moments of reality and calm – who would think a great punchline is ‘Rickets!’?

[Frances and Stacey]

I found some of Ben De Wynter’s direction slightly perplexing. There is a very good play in here, but it is being swamped by the subject matter and some strange staging. There are unnecessary monologues that tell us little that couldn’t come out of the action – the less said about the fight, the better – Stacey’s final costume change! What is that about? – As for the Sex that is promised on the poster… Where was it? Brexit, however, there is Brexit aplenty and much to agree and disagree about, whichever way you voted!

It is early days and the cast need to settle in and gain confidence. There is much laughter to be had, but it is not there yet.

Photographer  Paul Nicholas Dyke

Producers       Regan De Wynter Williams Productions and Andrew Williams

Director           Ben De Wynter

Designer         Holly Best

Venue             Union Theatre, 229 Union Street, London SE1 0LX

Tube               Southwark (Jubilee Line)

Performances Until Saturday 20th October

Times              7.30pm Tuesday to Saturday – Saturday Matinees at 2.30pm

Tickets            £26 (concessions £22.50)

Box Office       www.uniontheatre.biz and 020 7261 9876

Running Time 2hrs including an interval

Twitter             @theuniontheatre

One Journey, A Travelogue of Awakening.

A new book from an interesting author, this time a travelogue, by the winner of the non-fiction category of the Words for the Wounded Georgina Hawtrey-Woore Award.

Yes, a travelogue, but much more. Forester discusses his thoughts on ‘life, the universe, and everything’ really. He reflects that there is only One Journey, and as we travel through life that journey can lead to self-discovery if we have the will to see and listen. However our lives go beyond personal reflection, and as we explore ourselves we cannot ignore the wider world and the journeys we travel within it.

Forester writes of four cases in point, undertaken over a period of fourteen years: In the Amazon Rain Forest, a confrontation the unceasing exploitation of its resources and people. In South Africa, an encounter with the power of forgiveness, fifteen years after the ending of apartheid. In Nepal and the Himalayas, a pilgrimage of self exploration. In the Philippines, an exploration the impact of economic modernisation upon the people and the land.

Forester not only relates his journeys, but reflects on the fact that our voyages into the world are, in reality, a reflection of our Journey into ourselves.

Fluently written, One Journey leaves the reader reflecting not just on Forester’s travels, but their own lives and experiences. Never a bad thing. This is my measure of a good book, one that doesn’t quite leave you. Bravo.

One Journey by Michael Forester   £9.99 Amazon.co.uk