The Poltergeist - Southwark Playhouse / Arcola

[zahidf]

[Forrest]

Is it horrible to confess that I bought a ticket for this the second I saw Tramp's announcement, after seeing Joseph Potter was in it?
I thought his performance in Star was brilliant, and I've really wanted to see him on an actual stage since.

Never been to Southwark. Very much looking forward to it.

[fossil]

I was not really interested in seeing this as I find monologues can be a bit tedious, but as my wife wanted to, we watched this on-line last night. I was very pleasantly surprised. This is sustained by a really impressive performance from Joseph Potter playing the troubled artist and those around him. I would recommend catching tonights performance if you can.

[Forrest]

I loved this! I thought it was excellently written, in a way that, while you could see that something was wrong in the family relationship, the reasons unraveled slowly, making you really focus on what was happening. It was also superbly acted: with only one actor on stage, it never seemed like anything was missing, and I felt completely immersed in it. It is a rare exception among all the streamed plays I've seen in that it didn't feel like I was simply observing something happening, but I felt like it was really happening in my presence, as if I'd forgotten I was watching it online. Also, the range of characters and emotions Potter managed to capture and convey, fully convincingly, was simply extraordinary!  

Someone wrote on Twitter that the idea of Potter having to take a bow in an empty theatre after such a marvellous performance made them sad, and I could not agree more. I hope Tramp will bring it back, so he can get a proper round of well deserved applause soon. 

[MrBraithwaite]

Bought a ticket but didn't enjoy it at all, left the stream after 30 minutes or so.

Regarding the bow: I found it equally weird when Hadley Fraser and Rosalie Craig didn't bow or do anything at the end of their performance at the Southwark Playhouase stream a few weeks ago, felt as if something was missing somehow.

[steve10086]

Potter returns to Poltergeist at Arcola from 12 Oct - 5 Nov

[Steve]

I absolutely LOVED this tonight!

Joseph Potter is ON FIRE in a brilliant Philip Ridley psychological family drama.

Some spoilers follow. . .

I mean, it's a monologue, but Potter plays many characters, and as with Jodie Comer's recent tour-de-force, you feel like you've seen a lot of definitive and different characters, and it's rivetting to watch, such is the unhinged emotional intensity Potter generates.

This is not your usual Ridley dystopia, but an ordinary family drama, made thrilling by Ridley's incredibly dynamic and perceptive trip inside his lead character's head.

This production feels like ingesting equivalently excessive amounts of co-codamol, along with the taught fraught lead character, who constantly tries to outrace his reality. We know a comedown may come, but the headiness of the trip feels worth the risk.

And really, a star is born in Joseph Potter! His performance of his character's skewed perception of the world around him is hilarious, frightening and tragic to behold. But mostly hilarious lol! Potter is incandescent!

And tonight, so was Ridley himself, performing his astonishing poetry sequence, "Lovesongs for Extinct Creatures."

I've been to many of the South Bank's poetry prize readings, where prize winning poets' (including Seamus Heaney) read their own work, and Ridley is better, at performing his own work, than all of them, in my opinion. I thought he would be, as I heard him perform his poetry before, at the Old Red Lion, a decade ago. He dazzled me then with his intensity. Tonight, he was a barrel of fast-paced and well-timed laughs, as well.

4 and a half stars for the play, with a half star docked for the somewhat predictable landing.
5 stars for Potter.
5 stars for Ridley himself.

A wonderful night, 4 and a half stars overall from me.

PS: on the evening of Wednesday 26th October, Ridley performs his Poetry Sequence again, for free, after the show. And you'll still be out by 9:45pm.

[Dave B]

Ohh I had missed there was a thread and stuck this in the random reviews last night.


Tour de force from Joseph Potter who is pretty captivating. Combines speed and well the word I came up with is velocity with Philip Ridley's dialogue - words as weapons (big big fan of Tender Napalm here). Funny, dark humour with many enjoyable internal monologues contrasting with the platitudes required at a family party. Enough nuance to the story to allow you to decide just how unreliable the narrator is. Utterly convincing at it's relationships which for one actor I thought quite impressive. Holds some of it's jokes a little too long and could do with a slight trim but pretty sure all the reviews and good word will be for Potter's work - deservedly so.