Smiler

Soup Productions produced another home-grown drama earlier this year, which was fortunately filmed. This original play, ‘Smiler’, was written by Mike Pirks and directed by Mike Ridd, and explores mental health and the impact that it has on people. The staging was relatively simple, but the production did not need much in terms of staging. There were tables and chairs for the party, with the tables populated with party supplies, chairs set up for the scene in the clinic, and a bed for the assault scene. All were sufficient for this production. The blocking from Mike was good throughout and the stage was used well, with particular moments brought downstage. The pace throughout was generally good. There were a few moments where there were some prolonged pauses which brought the pace down. The moment where the masks were placed on the faces of characters was effective, with the character becoming physically relaxed and still. Costumes were modern day and suited each character. The clinical whites and lab coats of the Smiler clinic showed the uniformity of the establishment.

A contemporary dance was performed near the end of the production, performed by Matty Rowland and choreographed by Louise Wright. This piece of dance added greatly to the production, performed under a monologue from Phoebe.

Technical elements were well considered throughout the production. It was a general whitewash for the majority of the play, as it took place inside at Phoebe’s flat and the Smiler clinic. The use of phone torches as a source of light was a great way to make the audience experience the flat losing electricity. Sound was good throughout, and was set at a good level.

Sam Duxbury played the lead, Phoebe. We meet Phoebe at her party that she is hosting with her partner, Nell, and we come to learn that she is struggling with her mental health. Through a flashback scene, we learn that Phoebe was part of the Smiler initiative that is not being used correctly. This was a good performance from Sam, and she was able to display a range of emotions.

Playing Nell was Mia Fathers. Mia worked well with Sam and gave a youthful energy to the performance. Nell was also dealing with recovery from alcoholism, and Mia did well to portray this side of the character. This was a lovely performance from Mia.

Michele Dean played Penny. As a neighbour of Phoebe, it was clear from the start that Penny and Phoebe had developed a good friendship. Quite a quirky character, Michele was able to show this, and delivered the comic lines well.

Josh Hopson played both Marty and Mr Hobbs. Two contrasting characters, this allowed Josh to two different sides. As the cheeky chap Marty, Josh brought energy and fun to the scenes. He really came into his own as Mr Hobbs, a patient at the Smiler clinic. This was an emotional performance as he battled with his sexuality and religious upbringing. A very convincing performance.

Louise Wright played Marty’s girlfriend, Carolyn. Louise brought some humour to the production as a character hated by Phoebe, and obviously only wants to be at the party to cause drama.

Jo Preston played both Pippa and McRae. Again, two contrasting roles. One being the outgoing friend of Phoebe, and the other being an employee of the Smiler clinic. There were comic moments as Pippa, and Jo did well to present the difficult character of McRae, enabling the abuse of the patients.

Also doubling up was Andrew Kenny as Milo and Doctor. The character of Milo was a lot of fun, with flirtatious looks to the men at the party, which was funny. Andrew displayed great authority as the Doctor, using his voice to command the attention.

Jayne Dittrich played both Kirsty and Sally. Jayne did well in both parts, contrasting against each other. She was able to display some good comic timing with Kirsty, and was able to display great strength as Sally, as she stood up to her abuser. The scene where the abuse took place was quite harrowing to watch.

Simon Choat played Jacob and Carter. Again, two very different characters for Simon to sink his teeth into. From the mysterious Jacob to the sinister Carter, Simon did well performing both these parts.

Samantha Twigg gave a good performance as Razor, a new patient to the Smiler clinic. Initially not convinced by the method, Samantha was able to poke fun at the other patients, but was able to show the fear of it when she was administered with the treatment.

Ruth Gosney played EJ, the final patient. Communicating through Elton John songs, Ruth was vacant as EJ, which worked well for the character. Unlike the other patients, no one knew who EJ was and why she was here, and Ruth conveyed this mysterious character well.

Overall, this was a good production. It is great to see a new piece of writing brought to the stage that makes you think. There were some very good performances from the cast, who told the story well.

A big thank you to Soup Productions for filming their production.

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