Having appeared at the 2019 Buxton Fringe Festival and
receiving the Best Female Actor award
as well as other nominations, 'Jordan'
promised great things. On for one night only, 'Jordan' is a 60 minute one-woman show based on a true story,
depicting the devastating crime of single mother Shirley Jones.
Upon entering the King’s Arms theatre I noticed that the
seating arrangements were different from the usual set up of that theatre, with
tables and chairs for the audience to sit around, adorned with candles, as
though we were about to view a cabaret. How very different the show actually
was to a fun and flirty nightclub performance though!
'Jordan' was a
difficult but powerful piece of theatre to watch, in which even the gritty and
most difficult parts of the story were told in full. The lead actress was well
suited to the role, playing the complex emotions with ease. It is a real shame
that the audience were not given programmes upon arrival, but with much
searching the internet I believe the actress’s name to be Sara Gray. Gray’s
rapid shifts in emotion as she told Jones’ story were seamless and accurately depicted
her unstable and broken character.
The performance was very still for the most part with little
to no movement and no props except for a single chair and a few small items
beside it. This is so often the case with Fringe productions, although I feel
this was the desired set-up for 'Jordan', to
reflect the character’s confinement. This lack of props worked from an audience
member’s perspective, as the script was written in the style of a fairy-tale or
short story, and was almost poetic in its language, calling on the audience’s
imagination above all else. We did not need to see any sets or even a baby
to believe Gray.
I can easily imagine reading a dramatic novel written in
this style. The tale of Shirley Jones and her infant son was interwoven with
the well-known fairy-tale of Rumpelstiltskin,
although the ending had been changed to reflect the mother’s desires, which was
a nice touch. Again, by searching the internet I believe the writers to be Anna
Reynolds and Moira Buffini.
It is a shame there were not more people in the audience as,
although this was a difficult watch with very little comedic relief, it was
well written and well performed and I was engaged throughout. It was a piece of
theatre that I am sure I will be thinking about for weeks to come.
Reviewer - Megan Relph
on - 15.9.21
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