It was different, it was nothing I had experienced before
and YES, I loved it.
The performance took place in the Upstairs studio at the
Soho Theatre, a great space with a cool bar downstairs. The audience arrived
and we were directed to seats directly in front of the performance space. At the time not realising that we had to
focus on the wall in front. All we had was a pile of yellow Jenga bricks and a
printer to focus our eyes on – the props.
No costly sets here and no actors for me to comment on their
performance. On the rear wall in small font was "work.txt" - little did we know this
was to be our focus for the evening. It’s a short performance but so much fun.
It calls for audience participation – so if you’re a little shy don’t worry you
don’t have to do much unless you volunteer.
So, the yellow Jenga bricks become the view from our office
window. We build, we speak the parts, we
watch the printer, and we interact. Oh, those wonderful volunteers. I can’t
tell you too much as that will give the whole plot away. Our main character was
Lilith but that changes in every performance depending on who is playing that
part. You will need to be a good reader to take part, or even someone who
enjoys acting, but it is so fun and enjoyable. There’s even some singing and
I’m not the best singer, but that doesn’t matter – the audience sing it together. This is such a clever idea, and the plot is so
interesting as it relates to all of us that get up every morning and get on the
treadmill of work. Even those who hate Mondays and our bosses!
The parts that are read by the audience are random, such as
men read this part and women read this part; those who run, those who have
children and many more. As it was in central London, I ended up reading one
part on my own – those who drive to work (I had travelled in for the evening to
do the review), everyone else had come to work by public transport and had come
to this performance after work or university – it seemed quite a few were
students. Fortunately, the volunteers were confident and were able to follow
the instructions carefully. Some parts were printed out from the printer and
some parts were dictated over headphones and in case you’re wondering I did
independently read some of the sentences.
I can only recommend this great innovative show, I have
already told several friends about it. The performance was written by Nathan
Ellis – he obviously has many words to say about work; the language is modern,
comedic, appropriate, and fluent. Aided by the wonderful articulate volunteer
reader/performers. Dramaturgy by Sam Ward, Ben Kulvichit, Grace Venning and
Charlotte Fraser. Thank goodness for support funds from the Arts Council,
England, the Yard Theatre, the New Diorama Theatre and Bedales Events – without
this kind of backing these unique shows wouldn’t make it into the mainstream.
The show runs until 12th March and for the West End, the ticket
prices are very reasonable – so you have no excuse. Support these up-and-coming
writers and dramatists.
Reviewer - Penny Curran
on - 2.3.22
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