'Luna Gale' Hampstead Theatre ***

The social services, and the work that practitioners within this field have a good deal of challenges to face on a regular basis, predominantly if the circumstances involves separating a baby away from its mother and father. The Hampstead Theatre’s production of Rebecca Gilman’s latest offering, ‘Luna Gale’ permits us to observe the difficulties of support services and the relationships that they have with their clients in an all rounded mode, likewise the delineations were pleasantly conveyed.

‘Luna Gale’ is set in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, this is nicknamed, ‘The City of Five Seasons’ where we are welcomed with social worker, Caroline Cox who has been in the job for twenty five years does no look that she has much for her own self. While Caroline assumes that each case she is assigned is the exact same, but her boss, Cliff (Ed Hughes) has a unique incident for her to disentangle, which is to sort out a scenario of two young parents, Peter and Karlie who are incessant drug addicts and whether they reserve the right to keep their baby daughter, Luna.  Regrettably, the likelihood of them being able to keep Luna appears awfully implausible, and it is probable that Luna may have to be cared for by Luna’s grandmother, Cindy (Caroline Faber) as it is a healthier environment. On the other hand, Karlie is worried about this as she ran away from this atmosphere as Cindy is a devout Christian and with her collaboration with Pastor Jay (Corey Johnson), Karlie is anxious because of this.  On the contrary to this, Caroline has a meeting in a café with someone associated with the case, Lourdes (Abigail Rose) there could be something underlying that Caroline is unaware of. Throughout the show, Caroline becomes unprofessional and devises a story that Karlie’s ex step father molested her as a child and that her mother, Cindy did nothing to prevent this from stopping, in which Karlie agrees for this to be brought into the court case against her mother.  At the finale, as the court’s judge declares that Peter and Karlie are unfit to be trusted with the responsibility of looking after a child, it is decided that Peter’s father will be the legal guardian to look after Luna. This means that Caroline will have to suffer the consequences of failing to win the case.  Gilman’s narrative is affable as she has shaped a story about two crack-headed young parents who are frantic to keep their daughter and the struggles of social worker’s tasks to regain a moral high ground in terms of their professionalism.

One found the performances by the company of, ‘Luna Gale’ to be immeasurably appealing through virtuous intonations, articulations and good movements. Sharon Small is amiable as social worker, Caroline; for example how this case is really testing her proficiency and her tiredness does show quite rigorously which is why she wants early retirement and her creation of the child molesting leads to this happening.  Rachel Redford is decent as Luna’s druggie mother, Karlie; such as when she is in the waiting room at the courthouse and how her positive outlook that she will be able to keep her daughter shows her youthful nature and when her positivity disappears as she loses her right to be Luna’s guardian she crumbles.  Alex Arnold is worthy as Luna’s father, Peter; in particular when he is cuddling his daughter with a lullaby, it is a vastly moving moment as he realises he should not have got himself into drugs and that he is emotional that his father is the legal guardian and not himself.

Michael Attenborough’s direction is exceptional here as there is a real sense of sensitive capability and that is clearly noticeable and the funny moments work spectacularly well too, moreover the work in depicting this situation does seem natural.  Lucy Osborne’s design is awe-inspiring as the entire set is surrounded with filing cabinets with files inside of them and the scenes on the revolving proscenium arch was terrific, plus the scenic art and construction by Visual Scene is sublime. Overall, the experience of, ‘Luna Gale’ was a great performance and well-acted.  

'American Buffalo' Wyndhams Theatre ****

Roughly, a number of plays, musicals and immersive productions do consist of a whole heap of highly strong language, which could be seen by the audience as slightly unnecessary; then again, there are instances where this is appropriate where costly antique coins are at stake. The West End revival production of David Mamet’s 1975 play, ‘American Buffalo’ was an agreeably written show, along with this, the performances were ideally portrayed.

‘American Buffalo’ is set in Don’s Resale Shop, Chicago where we are accustomed with owner of the junkshop, Don who has just sold a buffalo nickel for a mere $90, though he does deliberate that the nickel could be worth considerably more. He convened by his young, scatter-brained partner in crime, Bob conjure up a plan to thieve the coin back; as such Bob is asked by Don to keep a lookout on the owner’s home, and Bob soon states that he has gone on a small vacation.  Teach, Don’s poker companion makes his appearance and when he is let into this arrangement, he makes it clear that he should be sent to steal the coin rather than Bob as he assumes that Bob is unproven and devious.  Teach also requests that they should steal the entire collection of buffalo nickels.  Over the course of the production, it soon turns to midnight on the same day where Don and Teach are finalising their preparations, however, Fletcher who is supposed to be helping them out has failed to show up and when Bob comes into the shop with a buffalo nickel in which he attempts to sell to Don.  When Don questions Bob of how he came into contact with the coin, Bob becomes equivocal with his answers, intrinsically Don and Teach ruminate that Bob and Fletcher have invented their own strategy to steal the coin for their own gain.  Bob soon states that Fletcher is in hospital with a broken jaw and when Don calls a countless number of hospitals and there is no trance of his name at the admissions desk.  This makes Teach furious and hits Bob with a very hard metal object, furthermore when a hospital confirms Fletcher’s name and with the same injuries, Don is cross with Teach’s actions. At the finale, Don carefully walks Bob to the shop’s door and they head off to hospital in Teach’s car. Mamet’s narrative is congenial as here is a sense of outlandish kinship between the three men, paradoxically the bad language by Teach is redundant and shocking to her i.e. c**t.

One found the performances by the company of, ‘American Buffalo’ were increasingly boundless within their vocals and movements; nevertheless, the camaraderie does appear fraught at times. John Goodman is pleasingly as junkshop proprietor, Don; exclusively where he tries to be the mediator between Bob and Teach through the tense periods, plus his doubtful expressions is attractive to the eye as he works hard to obtain the nickel that he’s desperate in regaining. Damian Lewis is impressive as mouthy, Teach; specifically how he is frequently demanding for Don’s attention away from Bob to himself, which is perhaps the reason why he becomes viscous towards Bob in an unfair and immature manner.  Tom Sturridge is ostentatious as youngster, Bob; particularly the endearing qualities that he does poses as he sees Don as a father figure, which is why he tries to impress him by purchasing a buffalo nickel himself as a means of apology.

Daniel Evan’s direction is amazing here as he has been able to show how both Bob and Teach are desperate for Don’s focus and that there is a democratic voice present as Teach is categorically not one of those and that Bob is vastly childish in his nature, also the characterisations are good here too. Paul Will’s set and costumes are wondrous as here is a gargantuan effort in depicting the changes of people’s styles and class; also the scenic construction is fantastic here through suspending objects that is surrounding the stage.  In addition Mark Henderson’s lighting is exceedingly suitable to a 70’s environment. Overall, the experience of, ‘American Buffalo’ was a nice performance and more enjoyable that the vile revival of, ‘Speed-the-Plow’ last Autumn. 

'The Father' Tricycle Theatre *****

Dementia is phenomenally painful condition for the elderly generation in which all of their fondest memories will in time vanish from their brains, yet what transpires if their cerebral thoughts turn into childlike behaviour? The Tricycle Theatre’s production of Florian Zeller’s play, ‘The Father’, that has been shrewdly translated into English by Christopher Hampton is a terrifically written piece of dramatic art, on top of this the enactments by the company were flawless.

‘The Father’ is set in Paris, France where we are introduced to 80 year old Andre who we believe was once an engineer, but he thinks he was a former professional dancer. At present, due to Andre’s radical memory loss he has been forced to live with his daughter, Anne and her husband, Pierre where he is constantly wearing his pyjamas and complains that he’s misplaced his expensive watch where he ponders that his carers have stolen it. Throughout the performance, Andre’s daughter Anne is gradually becoming more concerned about Andre’s health that she turns to being his full-time carer. Nonetheless, her male lover, Pierre her husband and Man (Jim Sturgeon) soon gravitates to jealousy, in which Pierre upsets and torments Andre to the point where Andre cries like a little boy. In direct contrast to this, Andre assumes that Anne’s apartment is in fact his own and he squeals when furniture is removed, this is due to the fact that Anne is on route to move from Paris to London. As you would expect this continues to cause Andre a lot of discomfort and vagueness into what is arising in his life. Anne hires another carer, Laura (Jade Williams) to look after Andre, but unlike his previous carers the relationship proves to be quite fruitful as according to Andre she reminds him of his deceased daughter, on the other hand, Andre cannot recollect that his youngest has died.  Once Anne relocates to London, Andre has moved to a residential home for the elderly where his nurse (Rebecca Charles) is on hand to attend Andre’s every need. At this stage, Andre’s dementia and his physiological wellbeing has drastically deteriorated where he is acting like a little boy that is mollycoddled by his nurse and at the finale it is tragic to learn that he has passed away from natural causes. Zeller’s narrative is seamless as he has crafted a script that is vastly stimulating as we’re witnessing the decline of one man’s mind and how he cannot remember any of his memories whatsoever and Zeller does combine humour and tear jerking moments with grandeur.

One found the performances by the company of, ‘The Father’ to be faultless as they capture both the comedy and heart-wrenching moments with such effect. Kenneth Cranham is textbook as central protagonist, Andre; largely where comes across somewhat discombobulated that hasn’t lived in his own flat for some time, moreover his breakdown in the home for the elderly was distressing. Claire Skinner is delightful as Andre’s daughter, Anne; primarily how upsetting it is for her to see her own father’s life dwindling in front of her own eyes and his does cause her relationship with Pierre to become ‘on the rocks’. Colin Tierney is fabulous as Anne’s husband, Pierre; for example how Andre’s presence is forcing him to take all of his anger towards Andre in a shocking and violent manner, as well as, he seems to present a dark and sinister tone within the show.

James Macdonald’s direction is picture-perfect he as he has encapsulated a moving and side-splitting representation of an ageing man whose entire existence is at the brink of despair and the detailing of the characterisations is vastly entrancing. Miriam Buether’s design is exceptional as she has directed us to a Parisian atmosphere where the white walls can resemble those of emptiness of Andre’s mind due to his dementia and the lack of hope of his improvement. Overall, he experience of, ‘The Father’ o be a moving piece of theatre that leaves you thinking you need to protect the senior citizens of society. 

'High Society' The Old Vic ****

There are musicals today that should take its influences from the glitz and glamour eras from the 1920’s through to the 1950’s and the excessive spending the certain folks would spend on a wedding, even if it is their second or third marriage. The Old Vic’s current production and Kevin Spacey’s final show as Artistic Director is Arthur Kopit and Cole Porter’s 1998 musical, ‘High Society’ which is based on Phillip Barry’s play, ‘The Philadelphia Story’ was an elegantly staged tuneful show and the performances were brilliantly depicted.

‘High Society’ is set in a waterhouse estate in Oyster Bay, Long Island 1958 where we are familiarised with ostentatious socialite, Tracy Lord who is in the process of planning and celebrating an extravagant wedding to her insipid fiancée, George Kettridge (Richard Grieve). But there is a sting in this tale as Tracy’s highly successful jazz musician ex-husband; C.K. Dexter Haven has been invited to her wedding by her sister, Dinah Lord (Ellie Bamber). Alternatively, Tracy’s father, Seth Lord (Christopher Ravenscroft) has a sordid past which is why reporter, Mike Conner (Jamie Parker) and photographer, Liz Imbrie (Annabel Scholey) have humiliating information on his past and are about to expose this information to the American civilisation. However, Tracy is already informed of these people and their motives to destroy the Lord family’s name and she is hell-bent in conjuring a revenge plan to protect her mother, Mother Lord (Barbra Flynn) and her father, well sort of as sh’e angry with what her father has done. As such she decides to mock Mike and Liz by pretending that her comical uncle, Uncle Willie (Jeff Rawle) is in fact her father and that her father is her uncle and vice versa.  Over the course of the production, it is very noticeable that Tracy and C.K. Dexter are still in love with one another and this is apparent by the swimming pool, as well as the pending marriage to George is a pretentious approach for her to show off and that her love for George is fake. Mike becomes besotted by Tracy’s womanly magnetism and when they are both incredibly drunk after the pre-wedding festivities, they soon end up in bed with each other.  Conversely, the morning after the night before Tracy realised what has happened and she is shocked by this and when Gorge soon finds out he is of course peeved off and states that he does not wish to marry Tracy as he realises that he is not welcome into the Lord’s family unit.  At the finale, a wedding does take place when Tracy and C.K. Dexter re-kindle their affections for each other and they make a conscious decision to remarry. Kopit’s narrative along with Porter’s music and lyrics are alluring as it is particularly fascinating to observe how three opposing men are fighting for one woman’s love and are on a charm offensive into getting into the lady’s heart. The musical numbers such as; “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire”, “She’s Got That Thing”, “True Love” and “Lets Misbehave” were atmospheric and with the addition of Joey Powell (Joe Stilgoe) who asks for requests was a grand choice.

One found the performances by the company of, ‘High Society’ to be gracefully beguiling through mesmeric vocals and effortless dance sequences by an incredible ensemble team. Kate Fleetwood is miraculous as pompous lady of leisure, Tracy Lord; specifically how she moves around in her costume in such a whimsical manner and her vocals in “Once Upon a Time” does show how compassionate Tracy can be, additionally, her hair and makeup is stunning here.   Rupert Young is remarkable as Tracy’s ex-spous, C.K. Dexter Haven; mainly when he smoulderingly offers his beloved boat to Tracy and George as wedding present, but you can see his breaking heart when he sings an amorous serenade to Tracy with “Samantha”, also he is quite hunky too.

Maria Friedman’s direction and Nathan M Wright’s choreography is enticing here as they have been able to transport us to the Pizzazz of a 1950’s upper-class family atmosphere and the attention to detail of the characterisations and dance arrangements were luminously off the Richter scale. Tom Pye’s design is exquisite as the set pops up through the floor in such transcendent fashion and it is stylistically lavish and glamourous with the lovely scenic art. Furthermore, Peter Mumford’s lighting and Simon Baker’s sound designs really complement Pye’s set in a majestic way, on the other hand Finn Ross’ video design of the swimming pool feels often lost which is quite sad as he is an outstanding video designer. Overall, the experience of,’ High Society’ was an entertaining and eye-grapping show, well recommended. 

'Light Shining in Buckinghamshire' National Theatre, Lyttleton ***

War under any circumstances is an immensely bothersome period to those who are actually in those fighting nations, but what is the aftermath in the countries who are quarrelling with themselves? The National Theatre’s production of Caryl Churchill’s 1976 play, ‘Light Shining in Buckinghamshire’ was a stimulating take on the consequences of the English Civil War, plus the performances were well represented.

‘Light Shining in Buckinghamshire’ is set throughout the 1640’s; in particular Putney, 1647 where we witness a scrumptious dinner, well sort of which is being held during the Putney Debates by a collective of government figures because they are celebrating the end of the English Civil War. Conversely, what is most poignant is the effect that has caused the Diggers, Levellers and Ranters, also the understanding of who’ll be able to own their own property and land again, in addition to this, these groups appear they are angry that the army, governed by Olivier Cromwell (Daniel Flynn) and General Ireton (Leo Bill) and the Parliament have taken over the ruling of the country, displacing the monarchies power. Over the course of the performance, there is an essence of apprehension  as changes of history is proving too much to bare for those who are trying to live and not die from malnourishment; for example vagrants, Margaret Brotherton (Ashley McGuire), Man (Alan Williams) and Hoskins (Adelle Leonce). We see how agricultural areas have found the strain due to the English Civil War, and the voice of reason for those struggling is Claxton and Claxton’s wife (Amanda Lawrence). On the other hand, the show allows us to see the unity of the men and women who fought so that the soul of England can survive and the legacy that these people left behind.  Obviously there are problematic situations ahead such as the rebuilding of what has been destroyed due the war and strife.  There are unsettling circumstances for those who are currently poignant; such as Woman with baby, who is being accompanied by her sister-in-law; it does give the impression that is going to be a struggle at this current time. At the finale, a heavily Drunk man (Alan Williams) makes it clear that that even though the Civil War has ended, it is only the beginning and that England will have to start again. Churchill’s narrative is pleasing as we are directed through a point of British history about those civilians who were not given notoriety; paradoxically there are factors within the script that lacks intelligibility which makes it hard for one to fully engage with.

One found the performances by the company of, ‘Light Shining in Buckinghamshire’ were exceedingly well conveyed and the Community Company all from SE1 was an interesting choice to include as part of the cast.  Joe Cafferty is ample as the working man and speaker of the people, Claxton; predominantly when he is speaking in front of those who are residing in the Putney area in which his voice booms throughout the Lyttleton stage and auditorium. Ann Ogbomo is suitable as Woman with baby; expressly how poorly and dishevelled she looks and the encounters she will have to face in a country that needs to remodel itself.  The rest of the company were grand too.

Lyndsay Turner’s direction is excellent here as she has made a revival that transports us to the 17^th Century in a nation that has gone through a Civil War, and it does inform those who have no education in his areas at all.  Es Devlin’s set design and Soutra Gilmour’s costume designs are wonderful as the two of them have collaborated with such success as both the set and costumes are masterpieces. Moreover as these two are at the top of their game within the industry and are favourites of mine it’s nice to see them working together. Overall, the experience of, ‘Light Shining in Buckinghamshire’ was a good interpretation of a period of history,  nonetheless, Churchill’s script is somewhat puzzling  at times. 

'The Angry Brigade' Bush Theatre ***

Throughout the 1970’s, there was a group of young people who felt that the current Conservative government, who were instigating a surge of cuts sought to wreak havoc on a government that did not reflect the views of the younger generation.  The Bush Theatre’s production of James Graham’s play, ‘The Angry Brigade’ was an attention grabbing show, but there are elements that entail improvements, then again the performances were really lovely.

‘The Angry Brigade’ is spilt into two parts, the first in the eyes of the police investigators and the second in the views of the brigade. The first act introduces us to the police investigation in the basement of Scotland Yard, where police investigator, DS Smith who has been sent to solve the crime by a collective of frustrated young people who are bombing London’s streets. He along with his fellow police investigators, Morris, Henderson and Parker are strenuously searching for the four people responsible for this act of anarchy. Over the course of the enquiry, it appears that the four known as “The Angry Brigade” have an entire army of associates and we see how the areas of London are linked with one another. DS Smith and his team like a real exploration of crime piece it all together with stings of wool and pins onto the localities of London in the optimism that they can find these miscreants and arrest them accordingly. Additionally, DS Smith creates an interesting method to seek out the four young people; such as listening to rock ‘n’ roll ballads and smoking joints so that they can get into the minds of them.  DS Smith receives an anonymous phone call from one of the four members of the gang and in the end DS Smith and his other investigators are informed of their whereabouts. The second act directs us to the attentions of the brigade who are called, Anna, Jim, Hilary and John, who are residing in an unrealistic world where a house should not have walls and that everything must remain open. Jim and Anna, who is a couple, are frustrated by the lack of hopes and dreams that the government are bestowing on young people. But the other couple, John and Hilary are more irate and stoned as they seem to be quite lackadaisical in figuring out their own prospect and worth to society and plan to destroy an important government building, which is increasingly ridiculous as this’ll lead to the wrong outcomes.  At the finale, the foursome are located and are as you would expect are arrested and sent to prison for their crimes of terrorist activity and vandalism. Graham’s narrative is decent here as we are given the opportunity to see both sides of the argument, however, there are moments where the amount that is taking place within the play seems far too rushed for one’s liking. 

  

One found the performances by the company of, ‘The Angry Brigade’ to be reasonably well presented with good vocal delivery and movement execution.  Mark Arends is fine as DS Smith; especially when he decides to find thought-provoking approaches to search for the four young people where they listen to quite unappealing music and getting stoned on drugs. Harry Melling is charming as somewhat troubled, Jim; chiefly how his good education at one of England’s top universities has impacted on his rage on the system, also he is a naïve individual who is a follower rather than a leader. Pearl Chanda is grand as both Henderson and Anna; principally when Anna seems to be on a journey of self-discovery as a young woman who is aggravated, but she does have a mature side where she calls DS Smith in the hope ha she can be rescued. Lizzy Watts is noble as Parker and Hilary; for example as Hilary you can see that she is always overshadowed by John and ha she really does not have a clear identity and his may be a factor  for her reasons to lash out on a society that is uncertain.

James Grieve’s direction is satisfactory here as even though we are taken on a voyage from both sides of the opposition here are moments where he has not been fruitful in fizzling out the glitches in Graham’s script.  Lucy Osborne’s design is excellent though as I can see how the transitioning from a bunker to an open plan house has been carefully planned, and the projections, lighting by Charles Balfour and sound by Tom Gibbons have coincided with each other to create a tense and thrilling atmosphere. Overall, the experience of, ‘The Angry Brigade’ was an entertaining one but needed enhancements in places.