Burton Taylor

Wednesday 3rd March, Friday 5th March, 9.30p.m., Saturday 6th March 4.30p.m.

“at times it was reminiscent of American Pie, albeit with slightly more intelligent characters, at other times it proved to be interesting and affecting.” Robert Holtom ★★★★★

“O’Brien missed a trick; had he written four inter-locking monologues to the strength of those already present he would have carried the competition.” Paul Hardwick ★★★★★

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Instead of Beauty ★★★★★

Written by Richard O’Brien

Review by Robert Holtom

If, like me, you find it somewhat awkward being in the presence of relative strangers who like to talk openly and explicitly about their sex lives, or lack thereof, you may indeed find yourself squirming in your seat on occasion. However, I think a middle aged gentleman sitting next to me in the audience summed up Instead of Beauty very well with the words, “teenage life certainly must be complicated.” And indeed it clearly was for our four characters – all in search of something more important and meaningful than what their current lives had to offer.

As an ensemble the four cast members worked very well together. Eli Keehn and Jarred Wiehe played Matthew and John, two friends who go way back and have obviously spent far too much time together. Whilst Matthew sceptically ponders his position in life, John is too busy taking drugs and not really caring about anyone other than himself. Whilst there were smacks of John Barrowman in Wiehe’s portrayal of John he still convincingly portrayed him as a very stupid and very annoying individual. Meanwhile, Charlotte Salkind clearly relished the opportunity to play Mary, sex-craved femme fatale. However, when Matthew rejected her advances we were left looking at someone who had clearly placed too much significance and worth on brief sexual encounters. It was Krittika Bhattacharjee’s Mary who stole the show for me – her character was the most believable and one easily sympathised with; a young Catholic girl trying to stay faithful to her religion but struggling in the face of others’ irresponsibility and hedonism. Krittika’s performance was both charming and understated.

Whilst this was a character driven production it may have benefited from a less minimalistic set which comprised of a table that doubled up as a bed and a frequently turned calendar. Nevertheless, Abhishek Bhattacharyya’s direction was both thoughtful and poignant. However, most importantly he gave the actors the chance to breathe and inhabit their roles as they saw fit.

Of course, as this is the New Writing Festival one must consider the script. Richard O’Brien has written a very tight and enjoyable play. Whilst at times it was reminiscent of American Pie, albeit with slightly more intelligent characters, at other times it proved to be interesting and affecting. Most enjoyable were Matthew’s awkward jokes about religion and Lucy’s speech about people who go on gap years in order to “find themselves” – it’s not that she’s saying those sorts of people are selfish just that that sort of thing isn’t her cup of tea. For me, this was a play about confused individuals trying to find themselves and sadly at the plays conclusion it did not seem like many of them had.

Instead of Beauty ★★★★★

Review by Paul Hardwick

Realism in the theatre seems to me an odd concept. On the one hand, what do you achieve if you succeed in being realistic? On the other hand, is it not all rather futile in the first place? For any play to engage the audience there needs to be something ‘theatrical’ in order to justify the production of the piece. Whether it is as simple a gimmick as ordering the scenes in reverse chronological order or satirizing one aspect of the production, something needs to bring the piece out of the ordinary and onto the stage. Otherwise you might as well stick a camera outside a nightclub and interview some drunken students (actually, it turns out that that is quite a good idea: http://www.varsitv.co.uk/episode/dj5rzs/Cindies_Stories_Episode_5/).

I realise that I am in the minority on this point; many people profess to enjoy realism in the theatre and the audience did not seem unenthused by the performance. And the two central monologues were superb in their content, pacing and delivery by Eli Keehn and Charlotte Salkind. Yet their inclusion as the central pivot of the play proved my point. Surrounded by highly realistic, highly indifferent depictions of student life, the monologues jarred for their very success. Here was a theatrical event, abrupt, and halfway through the performance. We were permitted to hear and experience what we are not permitted to hear or experience in real life – the inner workings of another’s mind – and were naturally intrigued. But not for long. Reverting to the linear relationship-cum-coming-of-age plot the rest proved forgettable, simply for being too authentic. Here O’Brien missed a trick; had he written four inter-locking monologues to the strength of those already present he would have carried the competition.

And he may yet. The play was entertaining – in the same way that observing students is always entertaining. The cast had excellent onstage chemistry, and the directing was crisp: no lines in sight (though with four actors barely ever together this would be an achievement.) The set was minimalist and could have been more so, the mechanic of turning a calendar in turn with changing scenes to depict time passing patronising in the extreme. Lighting, unnoticeable. All centred on the characters, and all came together to evoke realism. Yet at the end of it all, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the many hours of work that had clearly gone into a very polished production had been somewhat wasted. Watching Cindies Stories encourages me to believe that they were.