A keen night of fresh and daring theatre
Deptford is one of the most creatively engaged parts of modern London, and fresh theatre initiatives are adding to this thanks to efforts from Deptford Lounge and The Albany. Led by Jessica Fowler, a seasonal Scratch Night has been organised to showcase promising new theatre, and this year’s Summer Session proved an excellent example of the great work these evenings help produce.
Sofrito written by Ayesha Shingruf and Tomilyn Rupert with direction from Farah Hope kicked the evening off. A short and deft piece about grief and the marks the deceased leave behind, we watch as Alex (Elisabeth Tu) prepares dinner while her absent-minded mother (Heba Aboud) mills about the room, lost and confused behind her. The staging is simple and the eventual reveal that all is not as it appears is gradually made clear with an admirably light touch and just the gravity needed. Aboud gives a particularly effective performance as Alex’s mother.
Following this was Only You, Forever written and directed by Jeremiah Tayler, and focusing on a couple (Deanie Philips and Aaliyah Mensah) doing their best to smooth over a dark past in order to celebrate a new home. This piece deals with some particularly heavy social topics that feel slightly fumbled and often contrast with some very on-the-nose comedy, such as when one character flashes a sign saying “Some Time Later” as a way of transitioning the scene just after another character has received particularly dark news over the phone from a friend (Laurita Kapacinskaite).Additionally, though Phillips is a warm and enthusiastic performer, Mensah opposite him could often be quite flat – some more rehearsals and tweaking of this piece would go a long way toward delivering on its potential.
Rounding out the first half, And the Parrot Said was a succinct and delightful horror comedy written by Iain Prest and directed by Tess Adèle Glinert. A definite highlight of the night, the piece presents the audience with an awkward dinner party hosted by Charlie (Sam Speed) for his girlfriend Alex’s close friends Arty (Laurita Kapacinskaite) and Jo (Amber Clark) who both want answers to the one question Charlie seems unable to address: just where is Alex? The night gradually slides out of control, all while a jeering Parrot (Elisabeth Tu) eggs things along, and builds to a hilarious and unnerving climax. Special mention must be made of Speed’s brilliant performance as the quietly unhinged Charlie, delivering perfectly on Prest’s sharp script, with Glinert’s firm direction bringing it all together.
Speed and Glinert teamed up once more, this time as siblings Dexter and Beatrice in Michael Ansley’s Putting The Fun in Funeral directed by Elisabeth Tu. We join Dexter and Beatrice as they are processing the death of a loved one, both doing their best to support the other but inevitably bristling up against one another as siblings are liable to. It’s a fun piece with a lot of heart, with Speed and Glinert giving good life to the material, but the structure falters somewhat halfway through and the work often feels like its repeating itself – failing to find new ground in what should be a rich topic. There’s a great foundation here, but a little more gas in the tank needs to be found for the characters.
Contrasting everything that came before it was the penultimate Just In Case, written and directed by Gabrielle Osei Amponsah, which focuses on Kevin (Joshua Ogbue) a young Black man sat in a police station opposite an officer (Heba Aboud). Someone has died and Kevin is at pains both to establish his innocence and to inform the officer just how corrupt and broken policing in Britain is. There is an intense performance from Ogbue, enhanced by Amponsah’s genius decision to have Aboud with her back to the audience, silent throughout the entire running time as Kevin becomes more and more fired up opposite her. It’s engaging theatre, but at times meanders and feels in need of a tighter narrative and pacing. Still, the creative risks taken here definitely pay off and even with these narrative bumps in place the piece shines bright.
Ending the night, The Great Pies of Denby Dale left its bizarre and endearing mark. Written and performed by Bryn Walker and Megan Farquhar with direction from Bertie Pearson, this piece presents two eternal pie-makers – immortal figures who’ve known and made pies from the building of the pyramids through the rise and fall of Rome, and into the heyday of the English monarchy – as both find themselves in Yorkshire’s own Denby Dale. It is the wildest premise of the night, and thanks to Walker and Farquhar’s committed, delightful performances it comes off without a hitch, managing to paint the world of the play and the relationship between the two while consistently delivering laughs throughout. The full-length show is already taking to its feet and is due to present at The Bread and Roses in Clapham this August. If their scratch performance is anything to go by, it’s not one to be missed.
And neither is Deptford Scratch, which thanks to the above has proven itself to be a wonderful incubator for emerging theatre talent. Look forward to seeing more and more great shows taking their first steps there.
Deptford Scratch Summer Edition will run again at Greenwich Theatre on Sunday 10 August. The Albany hold regular similar events so check their website here for future editions as well as their usual programme of shows and events.
The next event, focusing on global majority writers, is currently looking for written submissions, with a deadline of Monday 21 July. Find out more here.
There will also be an event sourcing directors and actors on Saturday 19 August. Find out more here.
