STUDENT THEATRE REVIEW: Rage - 53Two, Manchester.

The final year students on the Acting degree course at Arden Theatre School took to the stage this evening in a play as far removed from Christmas as it could possibly be... or at least, you'd have thought so; if it hadn't have been for the fact that the play was written in response to a series of photographs published in the newspapers and trended on social media of Manchester revellers on New Year's Eve 2015.

The play, entitled simply, 'Rage', is a series of short vignettes played non-stop, some returning to the same people and circumstances, whilst others were stand-alone short stories. The connection between them all being how the youth and young adults of Manchester partied, and how the police responded. Written by Simon Stephens, professor of Scripwriting at MMU and certainly no stranger to writing for and working with young people, the play felt very real and immediate.

Perhaps there ought to be a trigger warning though for this play, as the language used throughout is extremely strong, racist, sexual, and provocational. It certainly isn't for the faint-hearted. There is even a rendition of our National Anthem with the cast giving Nazi salutes and the middle finger "salute"! What it does do however is highlight how alcohol and drug use (abuse) can and does affect a person's reasoning and behaviour, and how a police uniform can and does affect the attitude and behaviour of it's wearer. The abuse of power is an age-old human problem, here shown as police brutality. In fact, the police are not shown in a good light at all in this play, and one cannot help but wonder about this, and how true-to-life these characteriations actually are [especially in the light of George Floyd etc]. The final image as the lights dim and the audience leave is one of mixed messages. A young couple lost in their close embrace, oblivious to what is going on around them, wrapped with police incident tape. 

The stage is a corner of an urban run-down suburb Manchester, corrugated iron and outdated grafittied posters, along with scaffolding and associated building materials, traffic cones etc litter the landscape, and taking pride of place in the thrust stage formation chosen for this play, an actual taxi. Without actually performing this play outside on the streets, the set could not have been more real. Combine this with creative lighting and subtle sound, and you are in for a very gritty piece of drama.

And to prove this was a talented cast of 23 young actors / actresses, all just one small step away from taking the profession by storm. The ensemble feel to this production was incredible, as director Andy Sheridan filled the stage with writhing and shaking bodies, cold and shivering with the effects of drug use. Two cast members dressed in black standing high on the rostra created by scaffolding as if mongers of evil, creating an almost omnipresent malevolence as black angels (?), was a rather stagey or cinematic touch, but would have perhaps been a stronger image if they had been on stage the whole time. Whilst other characters believe they have found a portal to another world, propose marriage, and shout out at the injustice of the world, or the futility of it all, blaming everyone, showing their prejudices. It is a world that, although not unknown to me, is one that I was never a part of, not even peripherally; and whilst we all know that drug-dealers, and other low-lifes, inhabit the streets of every city; they do seem to prey on the young and impressionable.

A few times (depending upon where one was seated), the view of the action would be different; and I did feel that Sheridan had perhaps not taken the audience into full consideration on some of his directorial ideas and images, with principals being out of the line of vision for too long. 

The play lends itself perfectly for a young persons ensemble to perform, and at times the play felt much more like a drama school exercise than something commercial. (it even featured 'standard' exercises for drama students which I remember from my time at theatre school many many years' ago!). The vignettes, although all interconnected, did not allow for any real story or character development, and after the first five minutes of the play, we knew more or less what to expect: we were shown nothing new. Despite the darkness and grittiness of the subject matter though, it is - ironically - through the roles of the police (one in particular), where some humour is injected into the play. This does not go unnoticed. 

This play is certainly not for everyone, but it does reinforce the tragic consequences of partying and revellling too far. A couple of 14 year olds (about the age that many young people in this fair city have their first sexual encounter), here, fuelled by drinking and the wanting to try drugs and play "grown-ups", the play, and the outcomes shown in this play, start. A warning - a wake-up call to all. 

Sincerely, realistically and believably acted by all, the commitment to this production was incredible, giving powerful and visceral performances throughout. 

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 15.12.21