Bracing and warm with potential for further stagecraft.Rating
Good!
It always helps to start with a bang; while those in the audience were still buried in pre-show chats, the entryway of the venue slammed open as a figure (Evan Emanuel) ran on stage, shouting in fear and anger not to let anyone in. No fanfare, no music, no clear sign that the performance had begun; it’s a bracing opening for which writer and director Nick Myles deserves full credit.
What follows is the first of five short pieces, in which Emanuel and Myles make a firm mark. In quite an affecting segment, Emanuel displays both rage and grief as a tale of hatred, street violence, and the terror of these unfurls; all echoing loudly in light of the recent disorders to which London has played host.
Things continue well enough with the following pieces. Emanuel reappears as a different character who is a surprise hotel guest of another man (Neil James), who can’t quite remember how the previous night went. Much mystery and comedy abound, but without a firm resolution, it offers only brief amusement before we move on to Lisa (Terry Diab), who shares her long journey toward becoming a Jeremy Corbyn fanatic. It’s pleasant enough, but again without clear narrative direction, and it’s at this point that the lack of a strong combining theme for the pieces, beyond the fact that all characters are in some way a sexual minority, becomes noticeable.
Things wrap up with a drawn-out monologue from James about a fairly turgid love triangle, before leaving the night on a tender note with a monologue from Matthew Hodson that touches on darker themes of family rejection and HIV before taking a very sharp turn into a domestic idyll that feels a little out of left-field.
It’s a night of clear-headed writing and direction that starts on a high, but as things go on, it feels lacking in cohesion as well as flair in terms of the staging; aside from the second piece in the hotel room, the stage is almost completely bare throughout, and though lighting states change between scene,s they stay static during each performance. The actors do great work with this scant support, but their energy could only benefit from further work put into the show’s stagecraft.
All in all, it’s a bracing evening of short plays with a warm heart at its core, but one that could do with a little more work on its creative intentions as well as its execution.
Written & Directed by Nick Myles
Alphabet Rainbow has completed its performances at The Jack Studio
