REVIEW | Reboot Festival Week Three, Barons Court Theatre
Written by Cathie
*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review
Please note: This is a basement theatre staging area in a pub, so several sensory sensitivities might occur. The walls and ceiling are painted black and to signal each play ending and the preparation for the next one beginning, the lights are switched off so the space is extremely dark. It’s something to bear in mind if you suffer from any claustrophobia or nyctophobia. It could be disorientating for some as when the lights do come back on quickly, they are very bright. As well as the darkness mentioned above, the last play uses missiles and other similar war effects, so if you’re sensitive to such sounds please be aware.
Trigger warnings: Ukrainian war, sexual assault, refugee crisis, domestic violence
This festival is much like a trilogy, with three weeks of rotating plays. There are seven plays each night lasting between 15-30 minutes for this final week. Over the last three weeks these plays have looked at themes of love, gender fluidity, self-identity, community, war, loss, politics, tyrants, the refugee crisis, romance, death, neglect, dementia, terminal illness, assault, resilience, hope, academic rigour and what freedom means to all of us.
These have been an absolutely fabulous three weeks of plays by new writers, insightful directors and devoted cast members from around the world. It is impossible to choose a favourite play as they all have important and thought-provoking messages to share and the festival is definitely a very strong addition to the London theatre scene which I hope will continue for many years to come.
Congratulations to all involved for creating a brilliant festival celebrating new voices in the world of theatre.
Two Girls by Allie Costa and Directed by Beth Graham
This is a heart-breaking play which focuses on two girls, one before she went into the forest and one afterwards. A terror that is faced by far too many in this world, the story unravels a painful and harrowing retelling of the rape and sexual assault which happened to her. This play focuses on how the girl changes in the aftermath of this experience. A tale that grabs resilience by the throat, it is a powerful showcase of the impact of trauma.
(Performers: Ottilie Nye, Stephanie Wiggans)
Like Clockwork by Andrada Angileri and Directed by David Frias-Robles
This play at first showcases itself as a light-hearted end to a 30th birthday as a couple discuss their dreams and put out a strawberry shortcake cake. Several changes soon make it not just a existential crisis but an exploration of the meaning of life and death. Showcased through the untimely death of one half of the couple who visits the one who is still living but unable to move on, eternally yearning for his lost love who was taken from him in a unforeseen instant.
(Performers: Alice Walters, Andrew Kinsler)
The Lock by Katherine Swan and Directed by Sharon Willems
This play at first appears to be two sisters discussing a pregnancy test. It initially seems to be a rather sweet tale of two sisters supporting each other in making a decision on how one is going to look after the child. It slowly reveals sinister elements about the pregnant sister’s partner and a dawning realisation eventually unfolds that this is a situation of domestic abuse beginning that both sisters seem unable to stop.
(Performers: Martina Greenwood, Celine Killingback, Luke Lindemann)
Drawing Under the Microscope by Janine Sobock Knighton and Directed by Leo Bacica
This play focuses on one of the most famous children’s authors of all time, Beatrix Potter. However, this play focuses on her much lesser known interest in mycology (the study of fungi). This play showcases not only Potter’s keen academic mind, understanding of the world and her sheer reverence of nature but also her yearning to break free from societal restrictions that her domineering parents try to force upon her. It also showcases female solidarity and how friendship can help us in ways that the rest of society will actively try to repress.
(Performers: Benita Lambrechts, Kate Hawkins)
The Chronicles by Anna Halas and Directed by Josh Hinds
This play focuses on an unnamed female survivor of the Ukrainian war, whose self has been split separately into body and soul in an attempt to survive the war and trauma. This mother speaks of survival guilt, struggles to be present for her children and running a refugee house for others in the same awful situation. Yet despite this horrific trauma, this play focuses on resilience and hope, clawing her way towards the day when body and soul can be reunited once more and able to laugh as freely as their Grandmother who had survived the horrors of WW2.
(Performers: Ena Begovic, Magdalena Ivanova)
The Will of the People by Andrew Allen and Directed by Amalia Kontesi
At first this play seems to be in the style of Yes Minister, where the bumbling Prime Minister is going to be deposed in favour of his scheming underling. Yet as the story unfolds it portrays a Black Mirror type dystopia, where although votes are up 400% for everything in parliament, the public decides everything by either swiping left or right on an app. This includes votes on things such as public executions, including that of the Prime Minister’s family, as well as environmental policy changes. The relationship between the Prime Minister and his successor is interesting and swings on a pendulum of change in the perceived level of care towards each other, sometimes it is difficult to see who is manipulating who, and which is the buffoonish Politician and which the scheming one. The ending leaves no doubt as to which one would make Machievelli proud and offers a chilling warning about the callousness created by overuse of technology in our society.
(Performers: Andrew Sherman, Christopher Couros)
Nil by Sea by Katie Pollock and Directed by Estrella Mabika
This play focuses on the current ‘Nil by Sea’ policy from the current government where no refugees who come by sea will be accepted in the UK. This play looks at the tradgedy of a unknown refugee, with nothing but seeds and hope in his pockets, who after hiding in the wheel area of a plane, during its landing descent falls to his death onto a small neighbourhood street, leaving a crooked body, a bloodstained pavement and a mystery of who he is with him. With pathos, sensitivity and provocative dialogue, the information about the dead refugee unfolds from three neighbours of differing cultures and backgrounds who all have their own ideas about the refugee crisis, including one who has been a refugee themselves and another suggesting that everyone needs to ‘wait in a line’ to live here. Although the bloodstain on the street might eventually fade, the impact on the characters and audience certainly won’t.
(Performers: Kevin Sante, Jeevan Ravindran, Anvi Prabhu, Alex Douglas)