Thursday, April 16, 2009

ABStract

Hooray, yet another day where I dragged my lazy self out of bed at 7am- two days in a row...that, my friends, is a record!

So as I promised, here is a short and sweet review about That Face:
Firstly- I would recommend seeing this play if only to see the amazing lighting and sound transitions. Kudos to lighting designer Carolyn Emerson and composer Steve Toulmin.
The play itself is a modern take on a dysfunctional British family torn apart by alcoholism. When the youngest daughter Mia (Ashley Ricardo) is expelled from her prestigious boarding school the help of her Daddy (Eugene Gilfedder), who now lives in Hong Kong with his new family, is called to bail her out. He returns to see just how much the family has unravelled and how his son Henry (Leon Cain) is desperately trying to keep their mother, Martha (Helen Howard), together.

Ultimately the acting was superb and I was captivated from scene to scene (again this might have been because of the amazing fluorescent lighting transitions). However, there were some characters which seemed a bit over the top. Such as Mia's best friend played by Lauren O'Rourke who was much too stereotypical and ditsy for my liking. The dad also seemed very fake and put on which might have worked if it wasn't so strongly contrasted by the sincerity of the other characters. Specifically the character of Henry. He was by far the most fascinating character as there was not one point during the performance where he did not have my attention.

Overall the play is very witty and heartfelt with a splash of black comedy. Definitely something I wish I had written at the age of 19. Well Done Polly Stenham.

And simply because this blog is about ME, here's some more photography for you, this time under the topic of Abstract.



And now I am off to spend some time with my lovely friend Anna who is going to show me the intricacies of West End.

Love, rainbows and nuclear war,
Bianca
x

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