“It’s okay to talk”, was the poignant and urgent message this play was communicating. Tapped Theatre Company was formed independently by first year students at The University of Salford. The idea being that they devise original work to be shown at The Greater Manchester Fringe.
It was a pub within a pub, regarding the practical set design. It was Friday night, after the final 9-5 shift of the working week. The locals craved a pint at ‘The Queen’s Legs’ (I see what you did there). It was Open Mic night too. Similar to ‘Road’ by Jim Cartwright, each person had their time in the spotlight, revealing their reasons for being there as their concealed, broken selves were exposed. A few contemporary social issues were highlighted here, specifically around mental health. The pub is not only a place for drinking, but a place for connecting, reflecting and thinking.
The characters in the play were: Andi (Ellen Alexandra Bond), Charlie (Liam Dodd), Lucy (Abbie Sheriff), Lexi (Leah Wild), Catherine (Helen Varey), Emma Leigh (Sophie Rawcliffe), and Delilah (Grace Bastyan). The contrast and creativity of the characters was respectable. Wild did a nice rendition of ‘Wonderwall’ by Oasis, with a voice that has a balance of strength and colour. Dodd’s closing monologue was emotionally sincere. The dramatic tension created in some scenes was rather engaging.
Now onto constructive criticism. There didn’t appear to be a noticeable difference between the performance of naturalistic movement and the stylised physical theatre movement, which was rather predictable too. At one point, one of the characters goes to smash the guitar but randomly performs it in slow motion? The fluctuation between reality (the action in the pub) and non-reality (what was in the character’s minds) was determined by how the actors switched performance style and the lighting. This wasn’t always on the mark and consistent; it needed to be more clean-cut.
Some actors needed to take their time acting out their lines, and dramatic pauses weren’t always long enough. The shift between acting behind the fourth wall and direct address to the audience was clear enough, however they didn’t look at the front row or even people’s faces that much. So, when we were asked to join in by clapping with the Open Mic music, there was a reluctance to do so because we weren’t being properly acknowledged. It felt like too many theatrical ideas were thrown into the mix at times. They made interesting use of the main theatre space though.
In addition, there was periods of uncertainty as to whether we should have been laughing or not at what was going on. It looked like some actions were being played for laughs but it was unclear. Some of the humour felt forced into the script as well.
Don’t get me wrong, Tapped Theatre’s heart was completely in the right place with ‘What If?’ They shed light on issues that matter incredibly in modern society and they are to be commended for this. It’s just the execution of the play which was rough around the edges.
Reviewer - Sam Lowe
on - 14/7/19
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