Review: Keeping Your Spots, Hens and Chickens Theatre

The simplest of stages: a table, chair, telephone, and call centre-style headset. The only character, Jared, appears on stage speaking in a classic advertisement tone. We learn about Harper’s Infidelity Hotline, a number you can call for infidelity guidance and support and that costs ‘£2.50 per minute.’ 

Seamlessly, the audience become Jared’s colleagues in the call centre, and throughout the show we are privy to Jared’s confidential calls for ‘training purposes’. From the outset, Joshua J. Jewkes’ refined and varied acting is the central feature of the whole performance. At times, he plays with physical comedy, never shying away from being over-the-top when necessary. It feels like watching a Wall Street broker whose currency is adultery; committed beyond reason and slightly (or very) emotionally unstable.

There are moments of laughter throughout the performance, but really this is often brought on by the delivery of the writing. The writing itself has a wild quality to it, not necessarily fitting into the dark comedy box. The writing sometimes borders on lecture, whilst at other times it is more of an internal monologue, and this whirlwind allows for Jared to easily slip into emotional imbalance. The writing is clever and, much like the actor’s performance, skilful. 

The minimal set design means that everything on stage has purpose, which is deeply appreciated in a black-box stage. However, as solid as Jewkes’ acting performance is, there is a hunger to see his monologue-style play explored further through lighting, sound or theatrical effects. This is not to steer away from the reality that Jewkes solidifies on stage, but rather to heighten it. The simplicity feels potentially too bold, leaving room for some additional desires. 

One element that is used throughout the piece is sound. When Jared receives calls either via the telephone on the table or his mobile, the audio is played from the main theatre speakers. The size of the theatre could have easily accommodated the sound if it ‘came out’ of the devices (using small hidden speakers, for example). The voice recordings have an over-rehearsed quality that contrasts with Jewkes’s performance and once again draw us out of the world. 

While Jewkes is performing, there are moments of full belief in this agency, a place where reality and theatre blur, and the other features at play could’ve been used in a more complementary style.

Written and directed by Joshua J Jewkes

Keeping Your Spots has completed its current run.