The Hope Street Theatre in Liverpool has an approximately 100-seat capacity in one of the back rooms of The Masonic Building, a lovely building, full of character and great architecture. The theatre is available to hire for professionals and non-professional companies. The room is extremely adaptable to various productions as the staging and seating can be arranged to incorporate the play layout. The theatre has also since become a community hub for local writers and Open Mic nights. The Front Of House staff were very helpful and experienced.
The Barn Swallows was essentially a gothic western mystery, which was written by Helen Jones. Her writing was very unique and had a lovely rhythm that ran though the play. Her characters were genuine and the narrative of the story was very strong too.
Directed by Meg McFarlane, who did an incredible job incorporating the gothic and horror into the western. There was so much character interaction and a nicely paced build up to the climax of the story. Her dedication and hard work was strongly demonstrated in the show.
The Barn Swallows was produced by Make It Write, which was founded by Sharon Colpman. The company put on new writers’ plays with the additional help of production and marketing. It’s a marvellous platform for new writers to get their work developed, read and performed in front of an audience.
A running theme throughout The Barn Swallows was mental illness, which was showcased by the four main characters. The thing regarding metal illness with people was that ir was not always observed and very often unseen in some circumstances to those closest to them. The play highlighted this in latter-day Illinois incredibly well. These characters all suffered from this to a certain degree, but in some cases, quite severe. They all experienced trauma in the past that they were still dealing with and accepting it.
The Barn Swallows was set in 1875, just after the American Civil War, which was a bloody battle. The trench warfare was initially used in this particular war. Hence, why the trauma that the characters were still suffering, the mental scars and anguish, when the war finally finished.
The setting for The Barn Swallows was a lawless town in America, which was overrun with gun crime and murder. There was an extremely strong story that featured four main characters, who included a female bounty hunter, Danni (Reyna Gaia), a mysterious stranger, Robert Frost (Al Donohoe), a grieving widow, Alice (Geraldine Moloney Judge) and Sheriff Cornell (Peter Gibson), who all find their fates intertwined in this beautifully written gothic western story of betrayal, rivalry, retribution and redemption. Without giving too much away, there was a body-snatcher on the loose that the other characters were desperate to locate. And a great twist in the story that I didn’t see coming either!
For me, personally, the protagonist, Reyna Gaia owned the stage, her presence was constantly felt and she incorporated so much emotion in her performance. Her character was very strong and had endearing qualities, which were displayed time and time again. Special mention to Geraldine Moloney Judge, who displayed an array of emotion throughout her performance. A clearly damaged, emotional woman, who has suffered a lot of grief in her life.
Both women captivated the audience so well and both stole the show, with their hidden depths, incredible stage presence and range of emotions. Additionally, it was a lovely touch having two strong female characters in a western, which would generally be dominated by men.
Rachel (Kate Lavery) did a great job opening the play. Abe (John Smith) and Dillon (Lee Freeburn) also had small roles, which were effective and required for the story to develop. I thought Muldoon (Mark Porter) provided the only bit of comedy and one-liners in the show, which were delivered with ease and great comedy timing. As the genre of the play was dark, thought this particular segment was much needed.
The dynamics of Danni and Robert were so notable and felt a genuine sense of affection for both of their characters, their on-stage chemistry was displayed with perfection. All the characters had American accents, most of which were very good, but got stronger as the play progressed.
The set design was minimal, but very practical. There was a only few stage changes during the performance. The set was versatile as it served several scenes and locations within the play. I particularly liked the notion of a coffin being the focal point on the stage. If certainly kept the audience guessing with intrigue and on the edges of their seats, wanting to know whether or not the coffin would be full, and with what! Well done to Sophie Jones-Davies for designing the stage, a lot of effort was put in the production.
Props were again minimal, but vital, when necessary. The costumes were extremely good and fitted the characters, so incredibly well. Attention to detail was certainly taken regarding the guns and costumes to fit the time period. The characters all had make-up for this gothic western and was applied really well by Melanie Halsall.
The sound was precise and all the dialogue could be heard. All the sound effects were extremely good and utilised, when required. Well done to James Morris for achieving this. I particularly liked the music that was played between the pauses of the stage and scene changes. This added to the suspense and tension build up of the story.
The choreography was handled very well during the performance, when scuffles broke out. The violent scenes were essential and all the actions were justified for this gothic western. I personally found the attempted rape scene extremely difficult to watch, but was necessary for the story. This particular scene demonstrated Moloney Judge and Gibson's acting abilities and strengths for pulling off such a difficult scene so well.
I would highly recommend you all to come and see this wonderful play, with high production values. It was an absolute pleasure to see the show, as I enjoyed it immensely. Overall, this gothic western has so many running themes including mental illness, betrayal, murder, deceit and violence. Additionally, the play showcases an array of emotions throughout and were demonstrated incredibly well too.
Reviewer - Mark Cooper
on - 6/3/19
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