The world premiere production of a new Philip Ridley play, "The Beast Of Blue Yonder" was due to open at The Southwark Playhouse, but due to the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown, this sadly has had to be, like all British theatre, put on hold for the time-being. However this did not deter Philip Ridley or the cast of the play; instead, they came upon a new idea, and a new World Premiere. The project is called "The Beast Will Rise" and each Thursday evening a new monologue featuring one of the original cast will be live-streamed into our own living rooms. We are privvy to listening to and watching these delightful monologues in the comfort of our own homes.
This evening's broadcast sadly had to compete with the National Theatre's production of 'One Man, Two Guvnors', but I'll watch that tomorrow. Right now, I needed my fix of the bizarre and fantastic macabre world of Ridley's 'Gators', the first monologue in 'The Beast Will Rise' set.
This was the first time that Ridley has had any of his work premiered online, and indeed this is a completely new and original work, written only in the last weeks as a direct response to what is happening in our world currently.
Sitting on a sofa, drinking from a can, and looking directly at us, we were greeted with what has become an all-too-familiar sceanrio of these last couple of weeks... a Facetime / Skype / Zoom etc styled conversation with a friend or family member sitting in their home chatting to you as if we were in the same room together. She sits and starts to talk about the situation she and all of us find ourselves in... we are scared, staying in our own houses, because outside, out there, there are gators. In the old days, (her gran can remember), there were fields and flowers out there and people used to be able to walk around without fear. The gators stayed in the water and didn't bother us. But now, things are different. The gators are everywhere, and outside there are swamps and they don't just live in the swamps now but have taken over the human areas, and more devastatingly, have also started to "go sweet" on us humans too. If a gator goes sweet on you, then there is an unwritten protocol to follow.. rules.. which if broken, have untold consequences... and now the gators have grown huge, are outside the houses, and killing humans! It's the screenplay for a very bad horror B-movie, except it's not. This clever parallel to our own lives right now is clear, but it's also a fantasy and a captivating story too.
Sitting somewhere between Roald Dahl's Tales Of The Unexpected, Talking Heads and Jackanory, but taking the best of all three, the monologue lasted about 20 minutes, and was read and performed by Rachel Bright. Bright's lovely connection to the unseen audience was quite amazing, and her storytelling ability had made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Directed by Wiebke Green (the director of 'The Beast Of Blue Yonder') this monologue really took you into this young lady's 'everyday' world of scared citizens with ouzis killing gators and the gators taking revenge. It's bizarre and surreal, but it does serve as a very topical stark warning to our times, and is told by a talented actress with a chatty comfortable style, with a hint of menace perhaps, or even a hint of regret, but she most certainly draws you into her world and makes you feel rather uncomfortable (deliberately!).
The next installment of 'The Beast Will Rise' will be live-streamed next Thursday at 7:30pm on the company's website... www.wearetramp.com. I'll be there, and so should you!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 2/3/20
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