Burton Taylor

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

“Closet Land is the play for you, lasting just under an hour and with no opportunities for a quick snooze, this performance will have you on the edge of your seat throughout, eagerly wanting more.” Rosie Swaine ★★★★★

“much of the atmosphere was dependent upon sound and lighting when it should have been Scott-Taylor keeping us on the edge of our seats” Sarah McCready and Matt Harper ★★★★★

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Closet Land ★★★★★

Review by Rosie Swaine

Do you often find yourself falling asleep in films? Daydreaming during extended documentaries? If so, Closet Land is the play for you, lasting just under an hour and with no opportunities for a quick snooze, this performance will have you on the edge of your seat throughout, eagerly wanting more.

Darkness. Screams. Blindfold. Handcuffs. The chilling opening of the play rapidly sets the atmosphere and we are immediately taken in to the claustrophobic chamber of the black box Burton Taylor Studio, in which an unnamed author, accused of using her children’s story as a vehicle for subversive, political messages, is repetitively interrogated by a government official, attempting any available method in his arsenal in order to force the author into signing a confession.

The role of the interrogator appears to be a challenging part, which Adam Scott Taylor occasionally fluctuates from fulfilling- his awkward stature and stumbles frequently being overpowered by the fear exuded by Olivia Charlton-Jones in an extremely convincing performance. Scott Taylor jumps between mirth and menace satisfactorily, showing his real talent when schizophrenically creating other characters to a blindfolded Charlton-Jones, and, as the interrogator, adding an emotionless contrast to spotlight the torturous experience and chilling music echoed through the studio. As the interrogation turns progressively more intense (in some parts intensely intense), mental torture turns more physical, made increasingly unnerving in the darkness and the audience are assured that the lack of characters does not at all diminish the strength of the play.

A challenging approach taken by director Matthew Perkins successfully helps in achievement of a taut creepiness by using masked extras to further highlight the incarceration and emotional oppression facing the author. A minimalist set allows the actors space for movement to convey hysteria and the flats acting as doors are drawn in to create a confining closet, which draws in the performance with a (seemingly contrived) twist. The final scene leaves the audience wanting more, which is a reflection of the whole play’s unsettling vagueness, a subtle addition enhancing the gripping performance.

Closet Land ★★★★★

Review by Sarah McCready and Matt Harper

In the dark, enclosed space of the Burton-Taylor Studio, she begins her search for reality and truth, struggling against the delirium and deceit provoked by her interrogator; a strong reflection, then, of the similar search initiated by the audience, that is asked: Who do you believe?

Closet Land is the story of a children’s novelist, abducted by those claiming to be agents of the state and interrogated without end, on the simple charge that her soon-to-be-published story, Closet Land, contains seditious material aimed at brain-washing children into an anti-authority stance.  As the play descends into delirium, truth and deception are blurred into one inseparable knot of vipers.

The progression of this story, and particularly its ending, at times seems incoherent. Though the play is meant to be confusing, one is left wondering whether a solid conclusion can be drawn on, for example, the identity of the interrogator, or whether the point of the production is to exacerbate the confusion that it nonetheless generates. Whilst some may be happy to accept that the meaning of this play is up for grabs, others will question whether one reaches that conclusion with the full intentions of the production, or because a certain clarity in their interpretation is lacking.

Adam Scott-Taylor, as the interrogator, gave at times an uncomfortable performance.  One can acknowledge that his task was no mean feat and that playing a character who is in turn acting several parts would stretch even the most accomplished actor.  He was totally compelling as the “bad cop”, and even more brilliant as the “tortured rooster” as he bullied, tortured and raped her into a confession.  Yet the performance of “good cop” encountered some first-night nerves.  For example, key pieces of plot were lost by the fact that he awkwardly hurried through some of his actions. His attempt to burn Olivia Charlton-Jones with a cigarette, for example, or wipe some “menstruation” off her leg, seemed to be slightly out of sync, consequently affecting the atmospheric build up to such points. Most importantly, too much of the atmosphere was dependent upon sound and lighting when it should have been Scott-Taylor keeping us on the edge of our seats. Similarly, whilst it is true that, at times, the audience did jump from the suspense created, this was because Scott-Taylor had been directed to repeatedly bang a pole against the metal of the table, not because of his sole ability to engage the audience; at the points that it really mattered, his “good cop” character fell a little flat and was not quite believable.

Olivia Charlton-Jones, however, played her part well enough. At the start of the performance she competently displayed both the bewilderment and indignation of someone snatched from their bed in the middle of the night, her mouth twitching in both realisation and disbelief as she pieced together the complexities of her situation.

There were times when this production was incredibly chilling; an intriguing story combined with a highly effective score by Josh Lowe and striking projection of graphic imagery to create a crescendo of terror that left the audience traumatised by the end.  This alone makes this play worth going to see; but if you are looking for a well-crafted, slick piece of drama, this is perhaps not for you.