Review: Paradise Now, Bush Theatre

Review: Paradise Now, Bush Theatre

Summary

Rating

100

Unmissable!

A dynamic and brilliant deeply layered piece of theatre - a modern classic.

Walking in you’ll immediately notice the staging. The audience is placed quite some distance from the stage, which appears to be almost a flat photograph, framed by a lit border. 

The set itself is a pale pine wood box. It resembles an IKEA flat-pack piece of furniture, and like one it quickly and efficiently morphs from 2D to 3D. Shelves pull out and rooms appear out of nowhere. Rosie Elnile’s set is an architectural and artistic thing of beauty. The moments where the set changes are not wasted, however. They are incorporated into the telling of the story, giving further insight into time, place and the psychology of the characters. 

The foundation of the story is six people, interconnected via a pyramid scheme that infiltrates their lives, promising success for ‘dedicated and ferocious women’. We see through the characters how ambition can drive relationships apart and how competition and greed corrupts everything. 

The script is hilarious. Margaret Perry‘s writing beautifully balances truthful situations with outrageous, silly, playful use of language and events. The characters are bold and full of life but truthful ­– always deeply flawed and specific in their thinking. This means you are bound to relate to at least one, if not all, of them in some way. Multi-layered, but so engaging, the story is easy to follow and hard to predict.

Female power is often characterised lazily through a male lens, but in this production the portrayal of femininity and power is highly diverse. Perry’s writing is sharp. It is laden with intricate scenarios that, through their simultaneous mundanity and absurdity keep the audience laughing, while still completely caring about the story. 

The text is excellent, yet much is said in this play non-verbally, from a subtle re-adjustment of an arm to a stylistic dance section. One motif in Sung Im Her’s movement direction which permeates through the piece was the attention to the subtlety and power of physical touch – the female touch.

Jaz Woodcock-Stewart’s direction ensures the slick visual language is matched with the physical action happening on stage. Much like the set, the show is directed with a precise level of detail and efficiency.

In terms of performance, this is at its heart an ensemble piece, with all of the actors individually shining as they listen and respond to each other beautifully. The entire cast instil their characters with a perfect balance of hope and struggle, making them utterly hilarious. Saying this, Michele Moran’s Gabriel is the tragic yet endearing hero of the production. The aptitude with which she plays Gabriel is rare in theatre. Moran’s characterisation is impeccably detailed. Every movement, every word, feels important but never planned. 

We all, like the characters, are swept up in fantasies we know are false because they validate us, with catch-all phrases designed to weaken us and keep us consuming products: ‘You are beautiful! You are amazing!’ This production satirises this leaving us questioning how much autonomy we really have in this digital age. Maybe we need these myths of a paradise too good to be true for us to believe our lives are meaningful and brilliant, or at least more meaningful than they actually are? What would our lives be without them? Would there be life without these myths?

Paradise Now! is unmissable. A contemporary study of relationships, women and modern capitalism, the play could be an Oscar-winning film as much as it will be an award-winning play. This is down to the elements of theatre not only working beautifully, but working beautifully together.

---

Writer – Margaret Perry
Director – Jaz Woodcock-Stewart
Movement Director – Sung Im Her
Designer – Rosie Elnile
Sound Designer and Composer – Jasmin Kent Rodgman
Lighting Designer – Alex Fernandes

Paradise Now plays at Bush Theatre until 21 January. Further information and bookings can be found here.