Wednesday, 23 September 2015

'The Win Bin' Old Red Lion Theatre ****

Obtaining employment within the arts in any capacity at this present moment is mainly daunting as there are not many jobs in the arts, so when there is a point when there’s only one job left in the world, then the competition for that job will be incalculably fierce and this is unnerving for those wanting to pursue careers in the arts. The Old Red Lion Theatre’s production of Kate Kennedy’s play, ‘The Win Bin’ is a dark comedy about the meagre situation in a brilliantly stylistic custom; likewise, the performances were splendidly represented.

‘The Win Bin’ is set in an awkward job interview where there are six candidates who are endeavouring to attain the last arts job in England. At first, we are familiarised with two out of the six contestants, Bash and Knock who are fighting for this job. Bash, a comic book artist who is 6ft has to perform in from of a judging panel called, The Bench,  who we do not see whatsoever, in this audition she has to dance her heart out but as you’d expect she is not the most strongest of dancers.  Knock on the other hand is a choreographer and obviously he performs the stoutest audition technically, as you can see his streetwise personality is comparatively unlike to what we might expect him doing as a career.  Over the duration of the performance, the six finalists for this final job opportunity have to compete in an exhausting twelve-hour day in a Reality/Talent Television show format where they are being evaluated by The Bench who in a Big Brother like fashion are ordered to perform certain artistic moments.  The action, throughout meanders with Bash and Knock performing a mime scene where they’re in a lift and is up to The Bench to decide what kind of lift they are in, but no word must be uttered in this sequence.  The other four candidates, Hum, a taxidermist, Flap, a neurotic American textilist, Tread, a writer and Sniff, a photographer are put through a painstaking ordeal to succeed in their quests to acquire the job, yet the central protagonists are Bash and Knock and we soon learn that Bash can be somewhat vindictive in her strategies to be offered the employment prospect. She goes behind Knock’s back to say he is not worthy of being given the job, this angers Knock as he open up to her and the audience about the fact why he needs the job. This is to prove to his mother and father that his career path in choreography was fundamentally worth it as he never received any approval for them, so he becomes immensely emotion as he is in fear that his parents will laugh at his face.  At the finale, Bash and Knock are still battling for the final job, but it is not clear who the lucky recipient of the last Arts job in England. Kennedy’s narrative is exceptional as the comedy elements are really first-rate and very funny indeed, alternatively, there are a lot of moments where we feel bad and sorry for Knock as this is the last chance saloon for him to prove to his parents that they are wrong which was a moving scene indeed.

One found the performances by the company of, ‘The Win Bin’ to be remarkably portrayed with such rib-tickling panache and has elegance about it. Kate Kennedy is delightful as, Bash, Flap and Hum; essentially when as Bash you can see how her height has caused some sort of glitches in her life, also her dance moves do leave a lot to be desired which in a nutshell shows the comedy apects of the show in a brilliant way. Wilf Scolding is marvellous as, Knock, Tread and Sniff; primarily when as Knock his reasons for why he wants this job  is really touching indeed and endearing, equally his dance abilities are particularly strong and polished which was stunning and lovely to witness as he captures both humour and heart-wrenching moments.

Sara Joyce’s direction is fantastic her as she has devised a show that proves that with the cuts to the Arts in England that many people have to consider that if they want to work in the arts that they need to work hard to achieve their goals, plus the attention to detail in the characterisations were increasingly comprehensive. Bethany Well’s set and costume designs are idyllic as even though there is no explanation to the black and red dots within the set you can just imagine that this could convey the competition of people desperate for the last job in England is more prominent than ever, furthermore the black costumes shows how bleak the circumstances are in this battle.  Overall, the experience of, ‘The Win Bin’ was a really entertaining and thought provoking production for those entering careers in the arts such as I am at this present stage.

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