Noises OFF Tuesday 26th March
@noffmag noff.nsdf.org.uk
Today’s Contents 2 Reviews: Facehunters Take My Fucking Criticism Less than a name Is This Cool? Is it? Is it Cool?
5 Reviews: Mercury Fur Butterfly Junkies: Off Balanced and Stuttering The Future, Now There Will Be Blood A Sibling Relationship trying to survive a miserable world
9 The Liberating Limits of Age 10 Playing for the Home Crowd 12 Overheard at NSDF
What’s this? If you’ve got a smart-phone, get yourself a QR-Reader app and run it over these symbols to be taken straight to the story on our website where you can comment, tweet, share and get the latest news, reviews and opinions.
2 Noises OFF 29/03/13
Reviews: Facehunters Take My Fucking Criticism Dan Hutton
The pre-set of Facehunters is one of the best I've ever seen. I'm a sucker for flashing lights and loud music in theatre (maybe because I don't go clubbing that much in real life), and as we walk into the Clive Wolfe auditorium for the final show of the festival, we are met with both those things. Pulsating music booms through the speakers, and spotlights circle around the space before the band kick in for our first loud, angry song, shouting imperatives at us: 'Take my fucking picture'. Sitting in the front row, we are up close and personal with the performers, hearing their voices both raw and through the speakers. Images created by bodies and dancers flash up in front of us before snapping into oblivion. The production is at its strongest when sticking to creating a spectacle, even though the plot and dialogue are often far from perfect. Graham Mercer's musical follows a few nights (and mornings-after) in the lives of Katherine, Lily, Sam and Sweetie, all of whom are self-prescribed 'hipsters'. Their lives feel worthless, and they spend nights out clubbing and taking drugs in order to forget the perceived emptiness of their existence. Towards the end, a storyline involving Katherine's double - Juliette - attempts to make the play into a modern-day musical version of Picture of Dorian Gray, but this ultimately fails due to the lack of build-up and sogginess of the script. Facehunters is at its best when offering snapshots of youth, both criticising and celebrating in a way that is truly postmodern. Mercer also choreographs with Megan Griffiths, and in collaboration with director Matthew Reynolds, this is where his vision really comes alive. The theatrical images he creates are better than every other production at this year's festival, as his eye for making pictures work and move on a stage creates a multitude of environments
and communities. Dark, dingy, audacious lighting is offered by Matthew Baker so that clubbing is shown to be disgusting yet desirable (though at one point a song about "D.R.U.G.S" is a little too reminiscent of Mr G, The Musical). The central characters weave in and out of an ensemble of eight drones, struggling to be an individual in an increasingly generic world. The performances are universally brilliant, each
“The repetitive imperatives suggest a group of young people yearning to feel something, no matter how small or for how long. one finding a tone of irony. Lead Laura Johnson carries the show as Katherine, managing to develop a genuinely likeable character out of very little material, and Flick Bartlett as her double is gorgeously engaging in her opening song. The two strongest performances come from Laurence Schuman and Charlotte Ward as Sam and Sweetie, who are given the best songs and are integral if we are to be taken on a journey. Ward's voice captivates and thrills throughout, seemingly the only character with any real humanity, pulling
aspects together even when she isn't present. Two motifs repeat throughout; crucifixes and the demand to 'take my/me'. The former is visible at least five times, as both jewellery and emblems, heightening the irony of the sometimes hellish imagery in this 'sinful' world. The repetitive imperatives suggest a group of young people yearning to feel something, no matter how small or for how long. A lack of narrative doesn't really bother me, but what is frustrating is an attempt at one. Facehunters would benefit from either a stronger, tighter story or a depletion of the one already present, but as it stands the plot fails on multiple levels. What the production says about hipster culture is difficult to pick apart, though there is certainly a presentation of youthful inertia, demonstrating a group of people struggling to find meaning in their lives (though a reference to what external factors cause this would tighten the points made). At its worst, Facehunters is a try-hard, sentimental musical with some dreadful dialogue. At its best, however, the show manages to create a full-throttle, witty and highly enjoyable piece of theatre that manages to capture a particular mood for young people in 2013. Latest news & reviews at noff.nsdf.org.uk
3
Reviews: Facehunters
Less Than A Name Rosie Curtis
The Hungry Bitches are a prominent presence at this year's NSDF. In nearly every workshop someone with neon hair will proclaim proudly that they are a Hungry Bitch: each member seems unbelievably loyal to the company, and at an early stage in their history they are developing a strong group identity. Once NSDF is over, The Hungry Bitches are the company you are most likely to remember.
“Absolutely everyone in Facehunters is giving it everything they have. This doesn’t rescue the show. ” Facehunters is not an especially good show. It's a bit like RENT, but without the heart and swapping out HIV for drug abuse. Different members of the cast seem to be in different plays, with some being caricatures and others trying to be realistic. The
4 Noises OFF 29/03/13
odd song is catchy, but the majority lack subtlety. While musical theatre is often no stranger to beating you in the ears with their themes, singing 'D-R-U-G-S' might just be a bit too far. However, absolutely everyone in Facehunters is giving it everything they fucking have. This doesn't rescue the show. But it does add more charm than any of the characters inspire, and so you are at least in part on the side of the company. A lot of things about Facehunters that are weak are because of a seeming lack of knowledge. It is incredibly ambitious, but the company has not done enough shows yet to perfect their technique. Facehunters is a show from a company that are developing, and in a few years time they'll polish themselves a little and turn out really exciting theatre, especially if they manage to maintain the sense of devotion they seem to have to the name of Hungry Bitch.
Reviews: Facehunters Is This Cool? Is It? Is It Cool? Hannah Greenstreet
It is difficult to describe Facehunters. Think hipsters in eccentric costumes writhing energetically to psychedelic house music, some stolen souls and some tangled relationships. It is bizarre, but somehow it works. There is an attempt to satirise a type of painfully cool twenty-something and their superficial, 'live fast, die young' philosophy, often with some hilarious results, such as the character of Rose, played by Rose Brown. Yet the cast of Facehunters, with their neon dip-dyed hair and metallic leggings, are genuinely cool, which dilutes the bite of satire. Like other musicals, Facehunters does have discernible messages: drugs are bad; you shouldn't abandon your partner for someone younger that you met in a club; and you shouldn't sell your soul to some creepy beings in tie-dyed T-shirts and pink DocMartens. The plot is sparse and most of the musical is set in clubs, which rather limits story development. Ultimately, the production is fun. I don't think I learned a wider message from it but then it is the end of the festival
and we are all a bit tired (although lightrelief is probably not the right word). Graham Mercer's music, directed by Katy Richardson, is what makes the production. The songs are ridiculously catchy and are steeped in witty lyrics, sung by the strong ensemble. My favourite has to be "Take my fucking picture, please!" Megan Griffith's choreography, although a little repetitive, is driven by the sheer energy of the cast, an energy that is infectious. In fact, the cast's grinding and thrusting into the front row is so energetic that it is almost violent. In terms of plot, it is refreshing to see a lesbian relationship (or rather love triangle) at the heart of the production, but the human interest does lapse as the plot gets weirder. The Dorian Gray twist is unnecessary and gives an emotional falseness to the ending. They should have been confident enough to leave the longing for eternal youth as a metaphor or, at least, should have played up the 'facehunters'. Facehunters starts the end of festival party. I now really want a pair of silver leggings.
Reviews: Mercury Fur Butterfly Junkies: Off Balanced and Stuttering George Meredith
In the filth and ash of a post-apocalyptic Britain, people want a party. But not a party of convention, rather they crave a chance to explore personal lusts for violence. Nottingham New Theatre’s production of Mercury Fur explores the fragile tension between humanity and depravity in a world where everything has fallen apart. The slow unravelling of the scale of destruction outside the grotty one room which centres the action is unsettling. Claustrophobic and mundane, the grubby carpet and two chairs of the set instil a discordant domesticity to the scene, furthered by the charming fraternal relationship of Darren
and Elliot, two brothers clearing up in readiness for a ‘party’. As increasingly odd characters invade the space, including the aggressive Spinx, the blind incontinent Duchess and a drugged child - the Party Piece to be violently assaulted by a Party Guest - all certainty crumbles. A discomforting gender swap from the original text, having the victim and the party guest both being female, adds a further sinister level of perversity to her violent meat-hook fantasies. The performances are uneven and the production feels off-balance and stuttering, but the watchability of the three central characters, the brothers and butterfly-junkie Naz, combined with the power of Ridley’s text, creates an achingly horrific picture of the fate of the human soul. As Darren desperately feels for the heartbeat of his brother, ‘boomboom-boomboom’, it’s the last tangible shard of humanity left.
Reviews: Mercury Fur The Future, Now Charlie Steele
I left Mercury Furfeeling I had travelled somewhere beyond my seat. I have rarely experienced a play so far ahead of its time. This isn't to say I wasn't as shaken as everyone else who saw it. I was confronted by several people crying in the toilets, and in the corridor. I don't want to focus too much on the last ten minutes of the play; suffice to say, they were horrific and have been discussed at length by everyone there. I had to cover my face, which I don't think I've done whilst watching something since I was a child. There definitely needed to be a trigger warning for rape alongside the gunshot warning, and thankfully the Festival team moved swiftly to do so for the second performance.
“We feel sick, because we recognise what this play is on some level, and we don’t want to admit it” Nottingham New Theatre do a good job, despite a slow, hiccupy start (there's a lot of tripping over cans of lager). The set works; and thank God director Nadia Amico doesn't feel the need to put her actors on stage whilst the audience comes in so we have time to experience it. The rubbish, stained carpets and overturned furniture already set us on the downward spiral. Destination: having your beating heart ripped out of your chest. Stand out performances come from Laura Gallop as Naz, who brings a vulnerable confidence to an incredibly difficult part. She shines, but Andy Routledge as Elliot, Matthew Miller as Darren and Aaron Tej as Lola are also commendable. The relationships between the two brothers, Elliot and Darren, as well as Elliot and Lola's relationship are the heart of
6 Noises OFF 29/03/13
the piece. All the actors are incredibly brave to go to the very dark place they have to go to; but then, so are the audience. I felt like applauding everyone in the auditorium afterwards. After a bit of reflection, I knew why I was upset. I was not repulsed, I was scared. Very, very scared. We live in a world in which the stakes between what we can win and what we can lose are getting higher every day. The more we are desensitised, the more we desire something to overcome the numbness that modern society has inflicted on us. "I'm going to hurt you", says the party guest. Her glee is disgusting, heightened slightly more by the fact she is played in this production by a woman. I understood how the possibility for that desire had come about and how it was being facilitated by characters we sympathised with. I think that's why the play was so nearly censored. Well, it was to an extent. Faber and Faber refused to publish it. We feel sick, because we recognise what this play is on some level, and we don't want to admit it. The word 'dystopian' is being thrown about. Look at this scary future, people say, calmly reasserting it won't happen in their lifetime. I don't think Mercury Furis so far away. The world of the Party Guest is coming. We are increasingly disconnected from our natural feelings. An attention span in 140 characters, eroticism dwindled to a number of certain conventions, experiences for the sake of pictorial evidence. Bigger thrills, bigger highs to overcome the desensitisation to everything we can no longer feel entirely; hunger, arousal, hate. I think it's a lot closer than we'd like to think.
Reviews: Mercury Fur There Will Be Blood William Carlisle
Mercury Fur is a show that one doesn't have a mild reaction to. Philip Ridley's controversial script is both celebrated and chastised for its dark subject matter and New Theatre's production doesn't pull any punches either. It's easily the most grotesque show of the entire festival and whether you enjoy it or not, you're not going to forget it. The play is set in the not too distant future. Humanity is screwed and for once it wasn't because of the machines. Our main characters are Darren (Matthew Miller) and Elliot (Andy Routledge), brothers who survive using their wits and dealing drugs called 'butterflies'. But their main source of income is hosting parties for wealthy clients in order to make their fantasies come true. Mercury Fur is a powerful and deeply affecting play that will undoubtedly touch many nerves within the audience, but it's the type of visceral experience that can only be experienced in a theatre. While the play itself is incredibly compelling, a lot of twisted entertainment can be found by watching audience's reactions and thanks to the brilliant staging in the SJT's Round you can see everyone's faces. When Naz innocently walks in before the climax of the show, there were gasps all around from the audience members as they knew that the worst was still yet to come. The adrenaline and
anticipation for the ending was almost tangible. The cast are staggeringly good and help absorb you into the bleak world created by Ridley. Special mention must be made to Laura Gallop and Matthew Miller who play characters who have clearly been mentally affected by drugs and go through the most traumatic character arcs. But that's not to take away from the rest of the cast, who do give intense performances all round. Despite the dark themes at play and the dystopian London setting, what makes Mercury Fur so potent is the quieter moments. While Ridley's script is uncompromising, it doesn't feel the need to beat the audience over the head with its subject matter. The script gives plenty of time for the characters to breath, establish relationships and tease the audience who know full well that this will end badly for all involved. But even in its darkest moments, Mercury Fur isn't gratuitous for gratuity's sake. It's a powerful and disturbing look at what humanity will do to get its last few thrills and what people are willing to sacrifice to save those they love. If Ridley has anything to say, it won't be pretty. Oh yes, there will be blood... Latest news & reviews at noff.nsdf.org.uk
7
Reviews: Mercury Fur A sibling relationship trying to survive a miserable world Phil King
Mercury Fur, like many adult Ridley plays (yes, he writes for children if you haven't yet come across him), was suitably shocking. Any cynicism about this shock being a replication of a long theatrical history stopping along the way at Oedipus rex, Titus Andronicus and Blasted and that we've seen it all before was dashed by the audience's reaction. Gasps, tears and walkouts punctuated the final five minutes of this show and to a large degree that's a measure of this show's success. The complicated sibling relationship between the jumpy yet organised Andy Routledge as Elliot and the forgetful yet trustworthy Matthew Miller as Darren was warm but full of fear in the light of their situation. This bond was the main driver of the show and kept the audience on the metaphorical hook from the beginning. Other cast members lacked vocal control though projecting largely from their throats, which meant a lot of the information got lost. But then the only key information was someone was going to receive a meat hook in a violent way and we got that loud and clear. More than this though the key concern about the acting was the constant fidgeting. No actor chose to stand or sit still. This could have been fine if
8 Noises OFF 29/03/13
this was a character trait for one or two but the constant roving simply became distracting and showed a lack of directing finesse. The casting also proved an issue, not Aaron Tej as Lola, because this allows Elliot to become more three-dimensional but Holly Daniels as Party Guest. The switch from slick, moneyed, male, city boy (in the original) to a more common, backpackwearing female removed the sleaziness and griminess. The change of both economic class and sex changed the performance and I appreciate this reveals social conditioning but if you're kind to this play and state that it's an examination of ourselves in a post-apocalyptic end-game scenario, then our social conditioning is what this play is exploring. Overall though the main exploration is that of tension and suspense and all the cast were utterly committed to building these. They all cared and that made us care. So for all the fidgeting and the quiet lines the bloodied appearance of a squealing Naz suitably flicked our empathetic buttons and if we're not happy with theatre that gives us that experience we're as miserable as the world Ridley sketches.
The Liberating Limits of Age Dan Hutton and Charlie Steele
Dan and Charlie discuss the representation of age on the stage at NSDF. Charlie Steele: I've often heard the term 'bunch of students playing old people' bandied about negatively, and never more so than this particular week. Basically all of the shows, including the devised pieces, contain instances of students playing characters often several decades older than them, with varying degrees of success. From a performer's perspective, I understand the reasons why. There are so few great roles for people of our age group. When you're young and passionate about theatre it can be hard to find a play that reflects you unless you're writing your own work, and even then, is anyone really interested in that perspective? And would you want to limit yourself to 'writing what you know'? For me, theatre is special in that it allows us to suspend our disbelief more than any other art form. To me, I don't know if the form matters that much if it's executed well. Dan Hutton: There's an interesting gulf between the way in which responses to this question have varied between naturalistic and non-naturalistic pieces. Though this has been picked up on in shows like Jerusalem and Pornography, little has been discussed of the effect of 'playing-up' in Tatty Tales and Twelve Dancing Princesses, both of which included members of the company playing outside of their age group. Due to the non-naturalistic styles, however, we don't seem to mind. All that you have in these cases is people saying that they're a certain gender or age and an audience believing them. So to my mind, it doesn't just come down to a matter of whether or not it's 'executed well', because no matter how good the performance is in a naturalistic piece, we're never going to totally buy it. The way we get round this, then, is to situate plays less in the 'real' world by embracing the theatrical.
CS: How do we define what's naturalistic, then? Simon Stephens has gone on record as saying that his plays aren't necessarily naturalistic (in conversation about Punk Rock). Maybe that's why I found the different ages in Pornography not off-putting at all - Maria Hildebrand who played the older woman was especially good. I find it quite difficult to mark that divide as we're never going to get a perfect representation of life onstage, no matter how hard someone might strive for that. Maybe what needs to be examined is the standard for performing as a character that is not your own age; do we strive for caricature? A blending of performer and character that isn't too distracting? Or do we let the text do the work? DH: I agree about Hildebrand's representation of the Old Woman in Pornography. The tone entirely fitted in with the feeling of the piece and its awareness of its own theatricality. If anything, however, I think this could have been pushed even further, either by heightening the character or stripping it down; each would obviously have very different implications. Just imagine a student actor saying those lines as themselves - we would not need make-up or even costume to suggest character, instead depending on the words written down. As students, we will never be able to play characters of an older generation with any real believability. Finding different ways of representing age onstage therefore becomes far more exciting than just asking 'How do old people move?' and 'How shall I talk?' The actor, then, is liberated. That way, we can bring to light more questions, exploring those characters and the effect they have on the world of the play. We must accept our own limits, but use them to propel ourselves to more intriguing ways of working. Latest news & reviews at noff.nsdf.org.uk
9
Playing for the home crowd George Meredith
One of the less boo/hiss points made in recent discussions has been issues arising from contextual theatrical reception. Cassey Elizabeth North said of Twelve Dancing Princesses that the festival context was a big step, coming from university crowds who 'laugh at anything you do.' Fresh Loaf Productions also expressed surprise at the level of shock that the images in Stacy received outside their university 'bubble' in Manchester.
routes: summer meant accessible international satire, winter more local jokes. If it works for your audience then, I guess, it works. But the problem with student theatre is that the locality is so dangerously small that the work can become crippled, and have no wider worth at all.
It's a noticeably consistent problem for pieces receiving their first wider audience at this festival, and exposes an interesting tendency for student productions. Student theatre is such an incestuously small environment, with a reception context so specifically and tightly framed, that material can so easily become inward facing and effective only for that audience.
With that in mind, I can't help but feel that a number of the productions in this festival have been selected because they were watched in a student environment where audiences are often blearily supportive, laugh louder, and cry harder, shouting praise and throwing roses with extraordinary vigour. Take Nottingham's The Memory of Water, for example. I'm sure in Nottingham it was a great success what with the jokes and the people and that loud one who kept taking drugs. Who wouldn't have chosen it when the audience were lapping it up?
Of course, catering to your immediate audience is as old as theatre itself. Ancient Greek dramatists would alter their material depending on the time of year and passability of shipping
The trouble is that it wasn't actually very good and here, when exposed to the wider world, it died, to be carried off in its ridiculously oversized coffin.
10 Noises OFF 29/03/13
“University offers a unique opportunity to create theatre, fashion a style and get things wrong.� We've all read Dan Hutton's piece on why he won't be reviewing Pornography, because he knows the cast and it would affect his integrity as a reviewer. It is a fair confession and touches on the importance for critical impartiality when writing about a piece of theatre. However, it comes from a very specific individual context in this festival. Dan is unique among the hundreds of us who don't know the cast and can judge with wanton abandon. What is interesting is that in the home environment the majority of the audience would be approaching the piece from a similar (if not quite as extensive) informed angle. Members of the cast or production team will be known,
sharing seminars, homes or if nothing else, a communal student environment. If Dan feels uncomfortable critically reviewing the piece, how can any student production receive an entirely fair audience response? And it is this honest response which makes good theatre. University offers a unique opportunity to create theatre, fashion a style and get things wrong, but if you don't know what works how can anyone ever improve? One of the refreshing glories of NSDF has been the opportunity for discussion, interaction between critics and theatre-makers, and a chance for honest criticism of a piece of work. How sad then, that such an environment can't be cultivated at home, allowing open responses and criticism, brutal if necessary. If it could, and theatre could be appraised in an impartial manner, student drama might not have such a bad name. And maybe we wouldn't have to sit through as much tripe at NSDF. Latest news & reviews at noff.nsdf.org.uk
11
Today in the Noffice.....
Overheard at NSDF "Scarborough would be really nice if it wasn't so shit." "Oh she's gone home to have sex."
Andrew Haydon Jake Orr Richard Dennis Ben Lander
"When is the last night party?"
Will Brown
"Ladies we need to enjoy our M a little more."
Chris Perkin
"Is take my fucking picture trending yet?"
Dan Hutton
"Can you call Matthew Kelly and tell him that Glyn says 'potent'." Thanks for all your contributions this week, you weirdos.
George Meredith Hannah Greenstreet Phil King
Thanks for the MEMEories
Emily Zinkin Holly Jazz KotzĂŠ Rosie Curtis Charlie Steele Louisa Claughton Daniel Rabash Tom Turner Will Carlisle Tom Deering Lily Lewis Evie Cull Richard Speir Alice Boulton-Breeze Daniel Lowe
See you at NSDF14! 12 Noises OFF 29/03/13