Post by Steve on Jul 9, 2017 11:40:08 GMT
A lovely portrait of a thirty-something woman spinning her romantic wheels in London.
Some spoilers follow. . .
This is from DryWrite, the company that Vicky Jones and Phoebe Waller Bridge create theatre for, written and directed by Vicky Jones. Except unlike the other ones they've done, this doesn't star Phoebe Waller Bridge being mean to people, something I've always found incredibly funny.
Instead, this features Amy Morgan, as Dee, a messy experimental thirty-something from Swansea, relocated to London where she drinks shedloads, and maintains relationships with 5 other people, some of whom know about each other.
If there is one thing that will turn people off about this play, it's the lack of narrative thrust. This play is far more interested in character, than plot progression, yet perhaps lack of plot progression is the whole point, since beneath Dee's cheery, open, experimental, funny facade is endless ennui. The lack of a propulsive plot will be a deal-breaker for some, but if you're willing to look past that, the portrait it paints of a woman of a certain generation, out of sorts with the generations above and below her, hits bullseye for humour and truthfulness.
Designer Ultz takes the listless Dee's metaphorical spinning of wheels, and makes them literal, placing her messy apartment on a revolve, which keeps her literally spinning, in fits and starts, all evening. To appreciate the design, avoid the first three rows, as Dee is hemmed in by appliances of all sorts that restrict a good view of her apartment unless sufficiently elevated.
As Dee, Amy Morgan is believably natural, a feisty and funny fish-out-of-water Welsh-girl-in-London. (In Gavin and Stacey terms, she is a perfect blend of Stacey's innocence and sweetness, with Nessa's toughness and cynicism, making her complex, more real and recognisable than either).
Of the 5 people Dee has relationships with, it's Edward Bluemel who makes the most indelible impression, as Dee's nineteen year old hurricane of an intern, south Kensington posh yet youthfully uninhibited, so eager to please he will happily wear Dee's dresses if it turns her on. Also memorable is James Clyde's Brexiter, whose topical anti-immigration politics and stern sexuality Dee finds challenging and stimulating, and who she refreshingly refuses to judge. So too is Matthew Aubrey loads of fun as Dee's ex from Swansea, hopeful to get back with her, trudging up to London to fix her toilet.
Overall, this play may have a minimal plot, but it has the feel of lived experience, and it's got loads of laughs, the biggest of which feature Edward Bluemel and Amy Morgan playing off each other beautifully.
4 stars
PS: The title of the play is "Touch," and Pride Day is certainly an appropriate day to attend a theatre in Dean Street to see a play called "Touch," as I must have (inadvertently, I swear) touched about 500 people getting in and out of that venue lol.
Some spoilers follow. . .
This is from DryWrite, the company that Vicky Jones and Phoebe Waller Bridge create theatre for, written and directed by Vicky Jones. Except unlike the other ones they've done, this doesn't star Phoebe Waller Bridge being mean to people, something I've always found incredibly funny.
Instead, this features Amy Morgan, as Dee, a messy experimental thirty-something from Swansea, relocated to London where she drinks shedloads, and maintains relationships with 5 other people, some of whom know about each other.
If there is one thing that will turn people off about this play, it's the lack of narrative thrust. This play is far more interested in character, than plot progression, yet perhaps lack of plot progression is the whole point, since beneath Dee's cheery, open, experimental, funny facade is endless ennui. The lack of a propulsive plot will be a deal-breaker for some, but if you're willing to look past that, the portrait it paints of a woman of a certain generation, out of sorts with the generations above and below her, hits bullseye for humour and truthfulness.
Designer Ultz takes the listless Dee's metaphorical spinning of wheels, and makes them literal, placing her messy apartment on a revolve, which keeps her literally spinning, in fits and starts, all evening. To appreciate the design, avoid the first three rows, as Dee is hemmed in by appliances of all sorts that restrict a good view of her apartment unless sufficiently elevated.
As Dee, Amy Morgan is believably natural, a feisty and funny fish-out-of-water Welsh-girl-in-London. (In Gavin and Stacey terms, she is a perfect blend of Stacey's innocence and sweetness, with Nessa's toughness and cynicism, making her complex, more real and recognisable than either).
Of the 5 people Dee has relationships with, it's Edward Bluemel who makes the most indelible impression, as Dee's nineteen year old hurricane of an intern, south Kensington posh yet youthfully uninhibited, so eager to please he will happily wear Dee's dresses if it turns her on. Also memorable is James Clyde's Brexiter, whose topical anti-immigration politics and stern sexuality Dee finds challenging and stimulating, and who she refreshingly refuses to judge. So too is Matthew Aubrey loads of fun as Dee's ex from Swansea, hopeful to get back with her, trudging up to London to fix her toilet.
Overall, this play may have a minimal plot, but it has the feel of lived experience, and it's got loads of laughs, the biggest of which feature Edward Bluemel and Amy Morgan playing off each other beautifully.
4 stars
PS: The title of the play is "Touch," and Pride Day is certainly an appropriate day to attend a theatre in Dean Street to see a play called "Touch," as I must have (inadvertently, I swear) touched about 500 people getting in and out of that venue lol.
