'Contractions' and 'Red Blooded'

Thank you for inviting me to see this double bill of two very unusual and thought- provoking plays.

The first one presented was ‘Red Blooded’ which is set in a station waiting room. The projection on the cyclorama, with the addition of two benches- painted green to compliment the image – was perfect for the setting and I liked the choice of opening music.

Robert was excellent as Danny. Whilst the two men await the arrival of their train, the older one of them, Danny, quickly struck up a conversation with Derek, gained his confidence and set about influencing, in a rather unorthodox way, how Derek might deal with his upcoming interview. He was affable and eager to impart his greater experience, and in that role Robert couldn’t be faulted.

Dominic too was impressive in his portrayal of a nice straightforward young man who, although at first shocked by the suggestions, fairly quickly adopted the technique and even managed to secure the new post right there in the waiting room!

Jennifer and Jane, played by Nikki and Saara, were also part of the conspiracy as we found out later and they were both convincing in their roles.

The twist at the end was unexpected, but as the lighting changed and Derek made his phone-call we came to realise that something much more far reaching had just taken place in the innocuous setting of a station waiting room. It was an absorbing piece of theatre.

The second play was disturbing in its depiction of how manipulating and controlling a large organisation could be – heaven forbid – at sometime in the future, in much the  same way that the dystopian novel ’Nineteen Eighty-Four’ predicted a chilling and unsettling view of unimaginable possibilities many years from when it was written.

The HR Manager is an authoritarian figure who is both charming and beguiling, but who crosses boundaries into the lives of the company employees. They in turn accepted it as a normal requirement of their employment.

In the role of Emma, Saara gave an outstanding performance. We saw her demeanour become more and more subdued and uncertain each time she came into the office, until eventually, she lost all remnants of her own personality and became like a zombie, devoid of any normal human feelings.

The Manager gradually, achieved the required result by breaking the small moments of defiance Emma showed at the start, until she was utterly defeated.

Nicky acted the role well. The dialogue was quite repetitive at each interview so was probably fairly tricky to get to grips with, and it faltered from time to time. A number of prompts were needed and so the pace was inconsistent.

The set for the office was good and the costumes were appropriate for their positions within the company – I liked the way that Emma became a lesser version of The Manager at the end.

I wasn’t sure what the chart was for – Nicky addressed it after each interview, but I guess it was a record of the results of the latest meeting.

Lighting and sound were good and every word of the four actors could be heard.

These were two tricky plays to present. Congratulations to Vicki for taking a chance on something so different and for directing it so strongly. On the whole I think it worked and sometimes it’s good for the audience to be challenged with something a little out of the ordinary.

It was a small audience on the Thursday but I understand picked up in numbers for the following performances.

Thank you again for inviting me to see the plays and for your hospitality on the evening – I enjoyed it very much.

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