THEATRE REVIEW: Theatre In Isolation Festival: Day 1: FRIDAY - Part 2

The Theatre In Isolation Festival was the brainchild of young Manchester-based company 'Two In A Bed Theatre Company', who organised and produced two full days of theatre, interviews, activities, and film all online and all from local Manchester talent and small-scale companies, all of whom are undeniably struggling during the lockdown.

It was a brave and bold statement, which actually morphed into an excellent platform to showcase works-in-progress, new writing, and basically network and support each other under extenuating circumstances.

The programme was vast and varied for the two days, and there were various reviewers watching different things throughout the two days, and so have split the reviews up into four, two each for the two days, and this review will look at a further 5 of the performances from Friday 29th May.

1. A SALFORD LOVE STORY.
    Roar With Us Theatre Company

A Salford Love Story was written by Paris Osborne and performed by Lucy Barker and Jordi Williams.

This story tells of two young revellers whose paths cross accidentally. One on a girls' night out for her birthday whilst the other had gone for a typical pub night with the lads. She sees him, the man that she has a huge 'crush' on and has been 'stalking' for some time, and so she gives him her VIP pass to the club. He, obviously drunk, liked a photo of hers on social media and she took this as a sign. He needs to get his denim jacket back from her, and so they arrange to meet the following evening. She is excited, thrilled at the prospect of a real date with her dreamboy, gets all dolled up etc; whilst he just wants the jacket back and nothing more. However what happened next nobody expected!!

Funny and realistic. Nicely acted and directed.

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall

2. 2021
    Whoops Productions

A mockumentary debut film from Whoops productions. The film starts with a voice-over and we realise that we are now living in a very near future, one where the virus is still out there but fear, paranoia, and ignorance rule.

Four young lads, Adam Little, Ben Whittle, Callum Jones and Flynn Harris Brannigan use street talk, bonhomie, and youthfulness to good effect to bring about this insight to our possible apocalyptic future.

Humorous but with a deal of truth behind it, it felt very real, in a gang youth culture kind of way.

This is the teaser of a hopefully full length feature film, and if this is the style and quality we are to expect, then it is something to look forward to.

Reviewer - Chris Benchley

3. JUSTICE OF A KIND.
    Written by Simon O'Corra, and performed by Joe Walsh.

Three short thematic and chronological monologues which tell the story of a young criminal mobster and his mates who convince the owner of a fruit farm to employ them as 'protection' from the filthy foreigners who come over to pick the fruit for him. Poetic justice is returned in kind from the Romanian mafia though and the whole thing is very gritty and Jason Statham-esque.

Walsh proved himself here to be a first class actor. Portraying a character that is so far removed from his self must have been a real thrill for him.

Language and content warning: contains blatant racism, hatred, xenophobia, and swearing.

I really enjoyed these three short pieces and from the ones I watched, it ranks as my favourite of the Friday.

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall

4. THE BIRDS AND THE BEES.
     A Radio play by Benjamin Bray

Leah Gray and Joe Walsh play mother and father in a telephone converstion with their son. Their son, now at university (and unheard in this interchange), is getting the sex talk thing... you know, the talk about the birds and the bees that your parents are supposed to give you when you reach a certain age....- well, he's on the receiving end of that talk right now, at university! And as if that wasn't comedy value enough, the talk is absolutely not the kind of talk you would expect or even want your parents to divulge to you. They chat candidly about their own sexual proclivities in quite graphic detail. It's very Pythonesque.

A humorous and enjoyable listen nicely interpreted.

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall

5. LADIES OF LIBERTY.
    Liberty Rep.

Liberty Rep presented a taster of what is to come from the full show they plan to perform when it is safe to do so. There were three different mini-plays. The first short play was written by Paris Osborne. It was about a waitress dishing the dirt about the goings on at the restaurant she worked at. With every cig break we found out more about her. There was observational humour about fussy customers as well as fellow employees calling in sick. It was funny and relatable. Although, I’m not sure why it was in black and white.

Next, there was a performance of “Beauty And The Creep”, written and performed by Beth Nolen and Beth Turnbull. It was aimed at the men who ruin nights out and harass women. They dealt with a serious subject in a hilarious way, the altered lyrics were sung to the tune of “Beauty And The Beast”. I particularly liked the line referring to someone called Steve Rotten from Rawtenstall. However, I think they could have filmed it somewhere else in the house other than against a white wall. 

The final showing was: “Does My Fanny Look Big In This?” Beginning brilliantly with a lecture from a psychologist character, this was about sexual anxieties. The awkward humour meant the monologue was a nice balance of being funny, and honest and exposing. All of these plays were raising awareness about important issues and the playwrights were writing about what they know about. A great start.

Reviewer - Sam Lowe

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PLEASE NOTE, MANY OF THE PERFORMANCES ABOVE SHOULD HAVE CARRIED LANGUAGE AND CONTENT WARNINGS.