As always, these events, produced by Real Life Theatre Company, take the form of six 15 - 20 minute short plays, with a short interval after the third. Written by well known and established writers (either for stage or tv), all six scripts showed great potential, but all were obviously works-in-progress which are either intended for further development in their current form or to be used as a basis for longer, more detailed writing.
The six shorts took us through the whole gamut of emotions, some within the space of the same play. One moment we are weeping and the next falling from our seats in laughter. There was even a semi- musical amongst the fray, as we learned a little of local history of which I was hitherto unaware. Namely that in 1900, there was a huge problem with the local beer supply being contaminated with arsenic. A sardonic tale followed with appropriately composed music by Carol Donaldson. The one thing which spoiled the illusion in this piece however was that modern day jewelry was still being worn.
The plays started with Ella Greenhill's "Chippy Tea", a piece about being lost, not fitting in, and unlikely friendship, but it was Marie Critchley's centred performance as Cam that made this piece so watchable and believable.
My two favourite pieces both followed this. First Diane Whitley's 'Death By Misadventure', which was a two-hander very sensitively performed by Susan McArdle and Hayden Holden. Alice Bartlett's direction was sympathetic and realistic, allowing the two cast members to have a palpable onstage bond, and for this reviewer at least, McArdle's performance this evening stood out head and shoulders above the rest.
'The Before And The After' came next providing us with a needed dose of comic relief. Peter Bowker's script needs some work, and Cherylee Houston's direction was a little fussy, but I enjoyed how such a sensitive topic was given due consideration, and the three performers worked nicely together with good use of dynamics.
After the interval we had pieces written by James Quinn and Peter Kerry, Lindsay Williams, and the evening finished with a rather ribald 'Conscious Uncoupling' by Jayshree Patel.
One comment I should make is that most directors chose to use to much set. Time was taken up by changing the set for each piece, and since th is is essentially a fringe event then perhaps finding other more creative ways to present the texts in order to make them flow more easily, would have been preferable.
JB Shorts is an evening that will both inspire and delight, and the amount of creative talent buzzing around you is incredible. As always, they provide an evening that will be talked about for a long time to come!
Chippy Tea was written by Ella GreenHILL not Greenwood
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