Chatroom

Fresh from their brilliant production of James and the Giant Peach earlier this year, Kingsley Players Youth Theatre are back once again with this hard-hitting play by Enda Walsh that tackles the subject of teenage suicide.  I must admit, I have never seen this play before or read the play itself, but I found the language very updated and accessible.  The way that the play was set and the slick pace really helped establish the style and characterisation.  The director for this play was Jake Powell.  Jake was once again creative with his approach to his production.  The set was simplistic with ten laptops which were placed open at the front of the stage and six computer chairs.  The concept was also simple – each actor, when facing the audience were plugged into the chatroom and when they were facing the back – they were disconnected.  Each actor stayed on stage for the whole performance and I was impressed by everyone’s discipline.  The costumes and lighting were also simplistic, but I loved the simplicity of the whole thing.  It meant that the focus was on the text and on the theme of this play.  The director ensured that the pace was kept throughout which kept the audience hooked on the plot.

The theme of this play was always kept at the forefront and the talk from the director at the beginning of the play (as well as the programme notes) meant that the audience were well informed in advance as to what this play was about.  It still didn’t really dampen what was going to happen for me though – I was captivated throughout.  As a father of two teenage boys, this play frightened me to death!  It made me want to go home, hug them and open up a conversation about how they were feeling.  People will speak out about their feelings in person if they are loved and feel secure.  Others, who don’t, speak about it to like-minded strangers on internet chatrooms – frightening!

This play contains only six characters which were all played brilliantly by the six teenagers.  The main character, Jim, played by Ben Mather-Dodd, was the new boy to the chatroom who was looking for advice.  I really felt for Jim and it was clear to see from Ben’s brilliant acting that he didn’t want to die; merely needed help and support.  Ben’s diction, articulation and projection were great, and he told the story very well.  There were some lovely comedic moments that Ben brought to life in the first part of this story too.  A great performance.

Jim’s supporter ‘Laura’ was played by Gemma Smith.  Gemma was captivating to watch.  She had a brilliant stillness and emotionless face that linked directly to her character and gave depth as to why her character didn’t want to talk about herself.  I found it a little while to hear Gemma because of her accent but once my ear was tuned, I could hear everything.

‘William’ was played by Kristopher Duffin.  Kristopher has a lot of text and he did well to keep up the pace and make the text sound like his own words.  He was brilliant in manipulation and had a great rapport with his fellow chatroom pal ‘Eva’.  Kristopher showed that he was the leader of the chatroom and he did well to convey this – I believed him!  It was also hard to watch him manipulate the others as I could see what was going to happen and wanted to stop it!

Eva Lemmy played the role of fellow manipulator ‘Eva’.  Eva was very strong in not only knowing her many lines but saying them in a way that it flowed.  The pace and tension was really enhanced by her performance.  Eva was great to watch and gave a strong performance!

Max Houghton and Eleanor Roberts had slightly less to do as ‘Jack’ & ‘Emily’ but helped build the tension to the overall piece.  I would’ve loved a little more diction from Max but overall both these actors gave a fine performance. 

Overall, I felt that each actor was very well rehearsed.  Their timing and on-stage discipline was also great.  I would’ve preferred if some of them had taken more time to think about their response to the line before but understand that this is purely a directorial choice and is just my own personal preference.

I congratulate Kingsley Players Youth Theatre for another great performance and thank them for the wonderful work they have done with PAPYRUS (Prevention of Young Suicide) to raise awareness.  Thank you for your hospitality and I look forward to returning next month for your next production of Alan Ayckbourn’s ‘How The Other Half Loves’.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.