“May artists bare their souls in here” intones poet Tony Walsh, as he launches tonight’s collection of short plays with the first reading of his poem, “These Bricks, they speak…”.
Under the brick railway arch that 53Two calls home, we are given six vignettes of the human condition, each 15minute snapshot ploughing headlong into hard-hitting themes of childhood abandonment, illicit encounters, sexual abuse, eating disorders and vengeance.
It’s a tough ask for any writer, director or actor to deliver the realism, depth and nuance one might look for in tackling such heavy-duty subjects within the timeframe and for the most part, tonight is more a solid display of modern melodrama, inviting the audience to overlook the fact that we can only lightly skim the qualities of the characters before us, and must suppress any skepticism over what motivates the choices they make within each scenario.
And our plays have reasonable success in doing so. We have ‘Confessions’, written by Ollie Thomas and directed by Ifeoma Uza, which see two strangers who meet at a fancy dress party, quickly going from light-hearted ‘truth or dare’ style admissions swiftly shift to spilling their innermost torments.
Despite this mental leap, both actors Sammy Winward and Adesola Ayodeji give us a good account of natural reactions to shocking revelations, with authentic dialogue and nice moments of black humour.
Similarly, ‘Fragile’ by Dana Leslie Goldstein, directed by Kim Burnett, is an exploration of the impact of an absent parent between comic bookshop owner Rennie (a charming Tachia Newall) and his customer Alana (played with a cool business-like air by Caroline Chesworth) as Rennie must decipher Alana’s true intentions. It is engaging enough with a nice ‘spark of hope’ conclusion but with no real opportunity to get to grips with the life-changing news we are presented with before the next piece is ushered on.
The two plays that book-end our interval both explore the theme of vengeance. Lex Talionis’ (Latin for ‘law of retaliation’) written by Will Nyerere Plastow and directed by Tess Farley is a Black Mirror-esque affair where a Headmistress has an unusual request of a father whose son is suspected of sexually assaulting her daughter.
We are witness to an interesting power play between Nick Pearse’s, George, here to answer for the sins of his son, and the iron-willed principal Mrs Lynch (Orline Riley) suggesting that status doesn’t always mean a get out of jail free card, even if the resolution feels more suited to the Twilight Zone.
Our other tale of revenge, ‘And the Crowd goes wild’, is a timely, well-crafted tale written by Joseph Walsh and directed by George Bukhari, where salt-of the-earth football mascot Martin (Daniel Jillings) shares his local pride in his team with comic aplomb (not difficult when you’re delivering a monologue in a Womble costume).
Writer, Director and Actor then douse the audience in cold water as Martin wrestles with the fallout out of his daughter’s dalliance with the team’s top player, a local boy made good. Jillings is excellent as our tormented Dad, delivering genuine frustration and powerlessness as he considers taking matters into his own hands.
The penultimate piece, ‘Loving the Bones of You’ by David Payne, is tonight’s stand-out piece. The tightly focused battle of wills between a mother and a daughter in the grip of an eating disorder is a tour-de-force in the realism and high-stakes tension that our other plays haven’t fully realized.
Director Simon Naylor has two outstanding actresses in Karen Henthorn as mum Gill, and Liz Simmons as daughter Claire. Henthorn is the overbearing, over-caring parent, compelled to fill silences with banal chatter and at her wits end at how to persuade her child to eat. In Simmons’ Claire we have a tightly wound, under-pressure university student, unable to throw her mother the mental lifeline she so desperately craves.
And in no way making light of the subject matter, the resulting breakdown between both characters is a treat in seeing first-rate performances relishing the note-perfect writing, with a shocking conclusion that absolutely silences the audience beyond a few audible gasps.
Despite the best efforts of Stacey Harcourt and Dan Sheader, it’s too tough an act to follow for our final piece, ‘Life on a Plum’ by Luke Barnes. We meet Janet and Michael who are wrestling with their feelings towards each other and follow along their inner monologues as they decide if there is enough there to stick with each other. Both are watchable, but the outcome seems unlikely, especially with a ‘parting shot’ confession that is given a single minute to resolve and remains overshadowed by the previous piece.
Maybe the 15minute window isn’t long enough for souls to have been truly borne but, overall, the audience is given a good whistlestop tour of fine writing, moments of utter brilliance and a sense that even in our darkest moments, we can still find points of light.
Bricks is on till Saturday 1st April. Visit 53two.com for tickets and information.
Reviewer: Lou Steggals
Reviewed: 24th March 2023
North West End UK Rating: ★★★