Review: Flock, Jack Studio Theatre

Flock begins with simplicity, the stage empty bar a few boxes and some mobile frames draped with fabric. This disguises a performance to come that is packed with rich complexity, revealing vital issues surrounding young people’s experience of the care system. 

The story is related from the perspective of Robbie (Joseph Clarke), just short of his 18th birthday, who has been in and out of care. The production meticulously examines the difficulties of progressing in life when security – both emotional and material – is uncertain. Onion layers of guilt, poverty, rejection, confusion and much more are exposed as the subject becomes raw and inflamed, but ultimately there’s a chink of hope.

From a calm beginning, things quickly explode into frantic confusion, with shouting police trying to access the room Robbie is in. Something terrible has happened. As we join him, he is relentlessly going over his past, trying to establish how he has reached this point, and if he is to blame.

Lin Coughlan’s extraordinary piece of writing gets increasingly compelling as you watch, with a profound depth of subject matter and voices that feel authentic: as they should, because the events related are all inspired by active research involving those with lived experience of the care system. This iteration of the show also has youth very much at its heart, tailored to the schools and community venues it is touring.

The four-strong cast work beautifully together. Clarke’s understated Robbie quietly reveals a boy in a man’s body who lacks the vocabulary and life experience to identify what he needs and feels. With no other family, his sister Cel (Tabitha Detroit) is his anchor, but she has her own life, wanting to go to university and find a partner, in a world where aspiration is for others. Detroit delivers a fine performance, simultaneously confident and vulnerable, and when together the siblings display moments of beautiful playfulness that remind us of the childhood they have missed. They’re ably supported by Romeo Mika as friend Miko, who joyfully presents multiple comic moments but also sustains serious and poignant scenes as Miko’s own issues come to light. Alice Selwyn is excellent as Robbie’s social worker, who provides sensitive balance and gives a glimpse not only of the tricky system that must be managed, but the emotional, human cost of advocating for young people like these.

Jim Pope‘s inventive and evocative direction immerses us completely in Robbie’s experience, with an endlessly shifting set (Sophie Jump) cleverly enacting the environment of temporal and geographical uncertainty he lives with. We’re taken to multiple locations, from a bedroom, to a canal, to the Eurostar, and slip between time periods. Here, Detroit additionally plays their mother and grandmother, her multi-roling wrapping the family into a neat, identifiable bundle. Simple hand torches bring the faceless shadows of authority into the room, adding a touch of terror. But simultaneously, care is literally stitched into the set, given presence in hand crafted props and images in the fabric.

Flock can be painful, with depictions of a failing system wherein vulnerable children are picked up and then discarded, where young carers are a norm and hygiene poverty a reality. But beside the harsh revelations are positive messages about the people who show up and give what they have, who care even when it’s the most difficult thing to do. As Robbie watches birds above him he reminds us we’re also a flock – a community together. We may occasionally peck each other to bits but will always come together again, fragmented but whole. This production creates a superb opportunity to reflect on the opportunities within that.

Written by Lin Coghlan
Directed by Jim Pope
Set and Costume Design by Sophie Jump
Lighting Design by Alex Wardle
Sound Design by Jules Maxwell
Produced by Chris Elwell
Executive Producer: Rhian Davies
Presented by Playing ON

Flock is aimed at ages 14+ and plays at Jack Studio Theatre until Saturday 3 October. An additional follow up audio trail allows you to walk the streets of Lewisham with Miko as he looks for somewhere to stay when he is homeless.