Theatre - Beautiful Thing at the Royal Exchange

I walked into this performance having no idea what the show was about.  I hadn't made the link between the title and the film that had been adapted from it.  I enjoyed the film a couple of years ago, without realising it started life as a play.  I put 2 and 2 together when I read the programme before the play began.

The set was even better than the Royal Exchange's usual standard.  It evoked very well the London Housing Estate the play is set in.  Without being dour.  With the lighting it seemed chirpy and summery.  The lighting was a fabulous part of the scene setting.  From the lights in 'other flats' to the overall feel of the day.

The cast never put a foot wrong here.  They were all excellent but I have to say the two women were fantastic. Especially the younger one who was playing a gobby truant.  The conversations between characters was great. It zipped along wonderfully and never felt scripted.  I have never laughed so much in a theatre.  The one liners are hilarious.

The story deals with two serious topics.  Making you think about them without thrusting them repeatedly in your face.  The sad parts are brief but not too brief.  This is a play that you initially enjoy and then spend time thinking about afterwards.  It doesn't have an explained ending.  It seems that life will carry on.  Not necessarily easily but there's no portent of misery either.

Thanks to a fantastic script and a script full of great banter, this is the play I have most enjoyed at the Royal Exchange.  I'd be hard pressed to think of one I've enjoyed more anywhere.  I'm gutted I haven't chance to see it again.

One question I left with was - Why don't they make those duvet covers in a Double?

I hope any local readers can make it there if they haven't already.  It's well worth the trip.  More info can be found on the Royal Exchange website.

5 out of 5 pawprints

Mogadishu at The Royal Exchange

Last night we saw the final play on our season ticket.  Mogadishu by Vivienne Franzmann.

This was the blurb from the flyer: When white secondary school teacher Amanda is pushed to the ground by black student Jason, she's reluctant to report it as she knows exclusion could condemn him to a future as troubled as his past.  Once the boy and his peers have decide to protect themselves by spinning a story of their own, Amanda finds herself sucked into a vortex of lies in which victim becomes perpetrator.  With the truth becoming less clear and more dangerous by the day, it isn't long before careers, relationships and even lives are under threat in Vivienne Franzmann's GRIPPING and URGENT play.

The play has won the  Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting   The writer is an ex-teacher herself and her experiences must come through in the play.  I will be reading some interviews later to see how much of herself and her experiences she put into the teacher character.

The play opens with a bang.  Grabbing your attention and letting you know it isn't shy of tackling the hard-hitting subjects it raises.  It's set in a place I'm not familiar with.  I haven't been to school for many years and when I was there the issues raised in the play never crossed my path.  It does seem very realistic though.  The first issue they smash you with is race and 'playing the race card'.  Something I haven't seen put on the table so bluntly in the art world before.

The majority of the cast are teenagers.  All are fantastic in their roles.  I hope they all go on to have long careers in the acting industry.  They play gritty roles in some instances and play them excellently.  The 'precocious child actor' never rears it head once.  The cast members I couldn't really believe in were the 2 members of school staff.  They didn't come across as real, but acting.  The stage is one of the most minimalist I've seen there.  Letting the actors draw your eye fully.

I was thoroughly gripped by the first half, it was tense and sucked you right in.  The second half I found a little too long.  The whole play could have been shortened by 30 minutes.  I'd have dropped the extra issues brought in during the second half.  It is still a fantastic play though.  One which I'd urge people to make the effort to see.  You have until Feb 19th to see it at The Royal Exchange, Manchester before it transfers to The Lyric, Hammersmith

I can guarantee it will have you discussing the issues it raises as you leave.

4 pawprints out of 5.