'Where Do Little Birds Go?' Old Red Lion Theatre ****

For some of you, you might perceive that ‘EastEnders’ characters, Phil and Grant Mitchell are the toughest brothers imaginable, however, you would be thoroughly mistaken as the notorious sibling duo, Ronnie and Reggie Kray definitely caused an almighty stir in London during the 1960’s along with their many accomplices and proved how ruthless they were.  The Old Red Lion Theatre’s production of, Camilla Whitehill’s one woman play, ‘Where Do Little Birds Go?’ takes us on an enticing journey of one woman’s story in which she was physically kidnapped by the Kray Twins, additionally, the presentations were earnestly illustrated.

‘Where Do Little Birds Go?’ is set in 1972 where we are familiarised with 24 year old, Lucy Fuller  who at the age of 18 commenced work at the very same club in which Ronnie and Reggie Kray spent many days guzzling booze and obviously plotting some kind of criminal activity. Lucy explains how she became involved with not only the Kray Twins, but with London’s most villainous gangsters such as; Frank Mitchell. Lucy left Hastings, Kent to London at the age of 18 to become a first-class performer, unfortunately the realisation of the situation is that she ends up working in a rather sordid club which is crammed full of that are involved in criminality but she was unaware of who they were and how brutal they were. Over the course of the performance, Lucy goes on to say how she initially came into contact with the Kray Twins and how much of a smooth operator the both of them were and throughout the many conversations they had and how sleazy they became. It appears that Lucy had a rather positive relationship with her Uncle Keith and the countless good times they had; specifically when they spent Christmas with him and her Aunt Val. Progressively, with regards to Lucy’s career it seems that her career desires are falling down the plug hole which lead to her resorting to prostitution which in turn is not exactly how she figured out how her life would plan out. When another infamous criminal, Frank Mitchell escaped from Broadmoor mental institution with the assistance of Ronnie and Reggie Kray, but unluckily for Lucy, she falls victim for being somewhat involved with the Kray’s and is kidnapped and forced to have sexual intercourse with the crazed criminal and the explanation of the night with Frank suggests that Frank is physiologically damaged and his frustration show that he is a danger to everyone and himself too. At the finale, Lucy conveys that the Krays were arrested for the abundant amount of crimes and Lucy is now in a flourishing relationship with a gentleman who treats her like a princess and her career is going well too. Whitehill’s narrative is truly fascinating as we get a full understanding of the powerful influence that Ronnie and Reggie had on London and a journey where it is seen through the eyes of an employee makes you see that dreams are dreams and that these hopes and aspirations are not realistic whatsoever.

One found the performances by the company of, ‘Where Do Little Birds Go?’ were compelling and for a company that consisted on one person allows you to fully concentrate on the one character, not an array of many. Jessica Butcher is dazzling as the only character of the entire play, Lucy Fuller; for example how she transported us into how manipulative the Kray Twins were towards her and what was incredible was how Butcher could carry the story without me becoming bored and learning all those lines was outstanding  as this is a challenging task for any actor.

Rosalyn Newberry’s direction is wonderful here as she what she has completed is engage an audience to just the one character and how the chilling stories of the Kray’s forcing a woman to have sex with a mentally unstable criminal portrays that in an environment on London that was a hotbed of criminal activity that Lucy could easily be messed up, but in this case, it doesn’t happen here.  Justin Nardella’s set and costume design is smart as we are brought into the life of a London bar to such panache and I liked all the textured from the set to the costumes that captured the early 1970’s vibe and the lighting by Jamie Platt and sound by Benedict Taylor complemented to dimness of being an element of the Kray Twins’ life. Overall, the experience of, ‘Where Do Little Birds Go?’ was a superb and gratifying monologue performance of working with the Kray Twins and the life of a prostitute who was pushed to having sex with crazed maniac Frank Mitchell.