The Rise and Fall of Little Voice

As soon as anyone mentions Little Voice I am immediately transported to the film with Michael Caine and Jane Horrocks so instantly the bar is set pretty high. I eagerly went along to All Saints Theatre Company`s production of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. It is a relatively small cast of only six with some actors taking on multiple roles.

The set is incredibly detailed for such a compact performance space, the stage is split into three distinct room spaces , pull the curtain across for space number four- already I`m enthralled by the imaginativity from both the Director Grace Young and from Props people Melanie Duff and Neil Thompson. There were visible edible Ryvita and corn flakes, the old style dial telephone, the empty gin and vodka bottles littered around instantly depicted a stereotypical down on their luck home. Sound by Andy Milthorpe was good with all sound effects dropping in on time and all records playing as the needle touched. Lighting by Rebecca Foster was sympathetic to the scenes, it is very difficult to go for a full blown theatrical fire lighting effect with the lighting present so I do feel that what was used combined with blackened overturned furniture got the idea across well. Wardrobe by Jean Abbott was good and in keeping , some characters had stronger character apparel than others but overall the aesthetic was good.

Chris White as Ray Say was a strong characterisation, he had a lovely gentleness with LV ( Lucy Fentem) that soon  developed into visible  manipulation. Laura Thompson as Mari had some superb scenes with Chris and we were able to see the very needy side to her characterisation, I did struggle to see a softer vulnerable side to her characterisation though, I found no light and shade in her dialogue delivery or tone – it was all quite strident so I personally found it very difficult to feel sorry for her character however, the audience around me loved it. I did enjoy Mari`s scenes with Sadie ( Teri Edwards), Teri is showing a real flair for the comedic side to her characters and keeps face without corpsing well. Her use of big facial expressions without speaking a word is fabulous to watch – the scene when Mr Boo visits Mari`s home and encounters Sadie is a standout for me. Matthew Fleming is no stranger to the stage and played his two characters very differently and quite distinctively.

As I previously mentioned a standout scene for me was between Sadie and Mr Boo, the timing from both actors was exquisite. Neill Baglan as Billy and Lucy Fentem as LV worked very well together on stage, both had a general air of awkward shyness that came across well, dialogue was good with clear diction . Lucy made a good attempt at the vocal mimicry.

Thank you for inviting me, I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

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