Burton Taylor

Tuesday 1st December – Saturday 5th December, 7.30 p.m.

“one is not left with an overwhelming sentiment of pity, rather with a somewhat shocked and bitter feeling” Camilla Turner ★★★★★

“each performer brought a subtly nuanced shade to the overall picture of despair, loneliness and regret that overrode the piece.” Fabienne Cheung ★★★★★

A State Affair ★★★★★

Review by Camilla Turner

In the intimate space offered by the Burton Taylor Studio, this stark yet poignant play offers the narrative of seven characters from a council estate in Bradford, all of whom have become victims of their community and of society as a whole. Yet characters is not the right term to use in its strict definition, for the preface emphasises that this is not a tale of fiction; rather, it is a projection of the voices and lives of real people. The narratives are based upon conversations between Andrea Dunbar (playwright) and people living on the Buttershaw estate; she grew up on the Buttershaw council estate during the mass unemployment of the Thatcher years. Perhaps it is Dunbar’s own childhood experiences that she spent on this estate, or perhaps it is the fact that the play is based on first hand stories, that makes the play’s realism pierce all the more strongly, reflected throughout by the fantastically strong personalisation of the actors.

Each of the seven characters has their own story, some entwined with others, and some so similar that one can be almost sure that their paths would have crossed at some point with their neighbours. Heroin addiction, teenage pregnancy, domestic abuse, violent crime, shoplifting, jail sentences- these are among the problems experienced by the people of the estate; all are discussed in a matter of fact way as the occurences of every day experience. The intimate tales of the seven characters are punctuated intermittently with more overarching themes, such as the inadequacy of the national state system of dealing with such issues, and both the help and prejudice generated by Christianity regarding these problems.

The sparsely decorated stage focuses all attention on the actors, aided by the excellent use of stage lighting, frequently used to heighten key moments in the play. The thought that lingers in the aftermath of the play arises from the juxtaposing nature of the subject matter and its executors: just as these middle to upper class Oxford student actors will inevitably return to their lives, so too will the ominous figures of the Buttershaw council estate, of whom they have just painted such a shocking picture.

If you are looking for some light early evening entertainment, you have probably come to the wrong show. Just over one and a half hours long, with no interval, A State Affair, is an intense, stark portrait of the underclass of modern England, those who have falled victim of the state system. The play stays true to its realist genre; one is not left with an overwhelming sentiment of pity, rather with a somewhat shocked and bitter feeling. This is an excellent piece of student theatre, from the never faltering accents to the superb staging and direction, and one that should not be missed.

A State Affair ★★★★★

Review by Fabienne Cheung

I was wary of this piece from the off: in my experience, theatre fuelled simply by young people’s experiences of drugs, sex and violence tend to be oversimplified for the sake of the shock factor, clichéd, and reductive to the real experiences that they are trying to reproduce for the audience. “A State Affair” did remarkably well in staving off some of these traditional trappings, whilst also falling inevitably into others. Sophie Ivatts’ direction is wonderful in communicating a prevailing interpretation: that those who are marginalised by our country’s political and social systems have fallen into a cyclical hell from which they cannot escape. Further, the subtle flecks of black comedy that permeate the piece give a powerful dramatic dynamic in contrast to the absolute despair and horror of the characters’ lives.

However, there were some obvious pitfalls within the piece. Succumbing to traditional clichés in terms of the piece’s styling, firstly, reduced the genuine aspects of the piece and replaced them with identifiable cultural markers, sacrificing to some degree the fantastic element of honesty that the actors brought to the stage. Further, whilst the use of dramatic contrast – for example, suddenly using dialogue instead of monologue – was useful to break up the stasis of the action, it reduced the continuity of the convention that we as an audience were being told the innermost feelings of the real people whose testimonies form the piece’s script, causing a jarring confusion of style which was often hard to follow.

The cast of this highly character-driven ensemble piece deserves to be congratulated in their success in bringing to life the stories of the people of the Buttershaw estate: not one of the cast members lets down the side, and each performer brought a subtly nuanced shade to the overall picture of despair, loneliness and regret that overrode the piece. The pace of the action was generally well maintained: only at some points towards the middle of the piece did the energy drop. The use of overlapping monologue in foregrounding the testimonies of real people was enacted very well through the constant, almost oppressive audience address: the physical use of stage space was minimal to suit this purpose, yet at times the lack of movement caused the action to become rather stagnant, especially in light of the lack of character interaction.

The play’s most outstanding saving grace is the honesty of the actors’ performances: I was truly amazed at the level of authenticity that they brought to their characters. Nicholas Higgins and Hannah Roberts stand out as the most emotionally genuine, whilst the comic power of Louisa Hollway’s performance is also key to the blackly ironic comic power of the piece. They showed thorough research into their characters and a high level of respect for the people they were portraying. If the action of the piece isn’t in itself engaging, the focus on character and artistic honesty is enough to capture this piece’s audience.