THEATRE REVIEW: One Play, One Day - 53Two, Manchester.

 

You can always be assured of a warm welcome at 53Two and last night was no exception. This popular city centre venue played host to Reloads Theatre’s latest One Play One Day project – a simple concept – 4 writers, 4 directors and 16 actors produce four 15 minute plays in 24 hours. Sounds simple but anyone with any experience of putting on a production will know this is no mean feat. And so the audience were treated to the result of this ballsy project and were presented with four very different pieces of work.

Opening with 'Body Of Christ', written by Zac Blinston and directed by Joe Geddes, we meet Father Michael O’Doherty, newly appointed parish priest at St Bartholomew’s, Rochdale. The audience, his congregation, immediately drawn into the action as he announces the significant changes he is about to make to the parish, none of which appear to benefit his flock and all of which benefit him personally. The cancelling of all activities at the parish centre in order to renovate it into space for his own needs causes resentment, chaos and hilarity as Father Michael ends up locked in the building, by a begrudging and now redundant parish gardener, alongside his hilariously well intentioned junior priest, the community line-dance-teaching PCSO, and a new attendee looking for the weekly Alcoholics Anonymous group. It is daft, it is well paced, sharp, detailed and very funny. Executed confidently and skilfully by a cast of four, William Teller, Ray Butler, Abi Mitchell and Daniel McKeown gave us an excellent opening performance… and probably the best punchline I have heard in a very long time.

'Sisterhood', written by Amelia Slater and directed by Russell Richardson takes four characters who are all NHS nurses working together on the same ward. We get to know them via their staff room breaks and develop an insight into their lives, loves, conflicts and challenges. As the title would suggest, despite their personal and hierarchical differences there is a camaraderie that is strong and they pull together to support, counsel and rally each other as women so often do. It is funny and heartwarming and well presented by the cast of Ellean Stokes, Orline Riley, Leah Eddlestone and Michelle Grimshaw.

I suppose the least conventional of the four pieces was 'Ghost Play' written by Caroline Lamb and directed by Josh Dixon. Set in the back room of a shop run by a technology enthusiastic medium, we meet Siobhan who is trying to make contact with her recently deceased uncle in order to help solve some of the mystery surrounding his death. Via an EVP system connection is made with her philandering relative, who has conveniently hooked up with a curious new beau on the other side. What unfolds is that whilst his death was accidental, had he not been in the process of attempting to murder his ex-wife, he would not have ended up dead himself and communicating from the afterlife – hoisted by his own petard so to speak. There is a quirky twist at the end of the piece that works well and the cast of Freya Ingram, Leslie Davidoff, Sophia Smith and Hylton Collins do justice to the material.

What happens when two young people from opposite ends of the social, cultural and political spectrum meet, fall in love, decide to marry and then introduce her father to his mother? 'If The Cap Fits', written by Fraser May and directed by Mickey Jones asks this question. Whilst well delivered by the cast of Gina Hutchinson, Deborah Brian, Steve Gidwaney and Niall White this piece was the least successful for me. The idea is great, the comic tension is great, the anticipation of the outcome is great, but there was almost too much to fit into 15 minutes and in order to make the story work it needed details to be filled in which only exposed more gaps in the narrative for me. There is potential in this piece, no doubt, but of the four, whilst enjoyable to watch, this felt the most like a work in progress.

In all the time I have been writing reviews I can’t think of another time when I have mentioned all 16 members of a cast by name, but for this event I felt I absolutely had to, such was their energy, commitment and sheers guts in putting together a piece of work of this standard in 24 hours.

Writers and Directors had the courage of their own conviction in terms of the ideas and company that they were working with, the audience loved it and all in all this made a really successful and enjoyable evening.

I understand the company, led by actor Danny Ryder, will be returning in April for a repeat of the One Day One Play format at The Lion’s Den, Manchester and I really look forward to catching the next one.

Reviewer - Louise Kershaw
on - 14.1.24