Performed online as part of The Thornhill Theatre Space's Virtual Fringe Festival, London's Performance Lab performed two short monologues under the banner title, "Friday Madness".
The two young performers both chose to perform their pieces in a vast and hollow space which was made their voices echo and blur, as well as hearing extraneous background noise such as traffic and passers-by. Sadly this made it almost impossible to invest fully in the performances and, in the second one especially, meant that I was able to understand perhaps one word in every five spoken. I fell certain that in a more sound-controlled environment I would have enjoyed these presentations more.
The first monologue, read by Ezra Mae Divino, was an excerpt from 'Escritorio' by Jade Dionzon. Here, we learn that she is a soldier in Afghanistan and chatting online to her family, perhaps back in England. It is Christmastime and it is her first Christmas away from the family. There is also a large section of this piece about Michael. I think I would be right in saying that her and Michael were in a relationship which is now no more. He is now in Manila in The Philippines, she is happy for him. It's a bitter-sweet piece which seemed to be sensitively delivered.
In the second piece, 'Tic Tac Toe' by Peter Solis Neny, performer Noel Pahayupan takes a very Restoration Comedy stance and appears to be very much a fop of a byegone era. . And yet, his arm folding and his constant playing with his locks betray this and make me think that perhaps this is much more modern than that and he is playing a woman in a contemporary piece. There was something alluding to a Filipino Revolution and the world changing, but I had no idea who he was talking to or why. there was a distinct lack of context.
As I have previously mentioned, had the monologues been performed in a space that was more conducive and soundproofed, and had we had some little context or synopsis of he both pieces before launching straight into them, it would have helped enormously, and I feel sure that both the performers would have fared better.
Reviewer - Chris Benchley
on - 30/8/20
No comments:
Post a Comment