Tag: plays

Wife Cooks Husband in Devizes!

A wife cooked her husband on Thursday evening in Devizes. I watched the whole thing unfold, but would have politely passed off any offering of a plate, in favour of my funky KitKat Chunky (three for a quid at Derek’s Deals!) What do you know? I’m way too much like Kenneth for my own liking, for after all, the way to a man’s stomach is……

You can get ice cream at Devizes’ wonderful Wharf Theatre, but not at a dress rehearsal, which is what this was; my apologies if the headline deliberately deceived you! You are here now, and might as well read about me sneaking in my own snack, to watch this wicked black comedy from the writer of The Nativity film series, Debbie Isitt. Opening night is Monday 18th May and the final night is Saturday, 23rd. 

Directed by Alison Warren, The Wife Who Cooked Her Husband may have the conclusion given away in the title, but the lead up to it is an unnerving watch with poignantly satirical dialogue. Set in either the late seventies or early eighties, a time when the practices of patriarchy were being questioned via feminism for a younger generation, their elders upheld the traditions of married life. Ergo, for a middle-aged chauvinist to “part exchange” his older model wife, might find himself undone and exposed by his newer model’s more modern perceptions of marriage.

There’s only three characters in this play, sitting around a dinner table. Flashbacks builds a devilish narrative of a cheating husband, how it emotionally affects his ex-wife, and the new wife too. Jessica Bone plays the ex-wife, Hilary, vividly. The focal point of the play is her building concerns for her marriage, and realisation her suspicions were right. Defining her plight is the emotional rollercoaster which justifies her revenge.

Louisa Davidson is Laura, the scandalous, younger, hedonistic mistress, and she plays it with a realistic front. But as the play delves deeper into Laura’s psyche, and her expectations from her marriage, whilst more radically feministic, are of equal burden to Kenneth, the happy-go-lucky fellow, caught in this love triangle of his own making.

It becomes clear the antagonist was never Laura. Kenneth is the lovable charmer, a gluttoness Elvis fan. Hardly a master of deception, he fulfills his desires uncaringly; the basic caricature of an eighties lad with Peter Pan syndrome; me starting this review with what I ate during the show might well be proof! If Jessica’s abject and sentimental monologues are the backbone of the play, they’re contrasted by Kenneth’s playful ignorance, and therein lies the comedy, dark as it may be.  

Andy Bennett plays Kenneth with comic splendour. One who gets his dinner at home but his love elsewhere, and at this successful beginning there’s a scene of visual comedy gold, as the moment of him ingeniously switching from Hilary to Laura delights him. Once reality takes hold, holes in his lies are exposed, and whilst his thoughts on the matter are exposed too, they’re not nearly as nuanced as either Hilray’s or Laura’s. One could argue a writer creates more realistic characters of their own gender, and in this Kenneth’s characteristics are flatter. Another argument is, of course, that’s the fundamental difference between the genders!

Here is a play which either gender can enjoy, and it is very enjoyable, but after-thoughts might some cause healthy debate! That’s what makes this a great show. The production may not be the best I’ve seen at The Wharf, though that’s a high pedestal, but three days later I’m still pondering its details and the questions it raises; it’s a grower.

While it might appeal more to women, the tensions and stress on relationships caused by an affair should alarm the man more, and they should see it if only to find sympathy for the mess they would create, following their desires without consideration. Young men preaching hyper-masculinity and this manosphere concept, should note this play proves these ideas were standard not so long ago, and didn’t work back then. Because, and here’s the real hitter, Hilary ponders at the conclusion, Kenneth has decidedly average levels of chauvinism, passive with it, and is atypical rather than extreme, but still he’s a manipulator and cheat who deserved his comeuppance.

The macabre ending suggested by the title is therefore expected, but the wait for Kenneth’s fate and Hillary’s justifications are more intensely meaningful than the concussion. While this play is of a simple setup, with a simple and common premise, the more its deeper meanings roll over in my mind, the more I accept that The Wife Who Cooked her Husband is a must-see.  

The Woman who cooked her husband

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Girls Like That at Devizes’ Wharf Theatre Opens Tomorrow 

What if I told you the forthcoming production at the Wharf Theatre in Devizes was staged by the Wharf’s own Youth Theatre Group? Would you preconceive it to be akin to a school production? Would you assume it amateurish, or immature? Girls Like That is none of the above, I was invited to a sneaky preview dress rehearsal type thingy, and it’s complex, multi-layered and poignantly provocative….

I left the Wharf contemplating the model protagonist versus antagonists is ambiguously played out here, as the centre of attention, due to a lewd photograph of her going viral, Scarlet, played wonderfully by Chloe Lagden, is silent throughout the majority of the play, and until the closing scene where she lays it thick on the line; the layers of blame, of victim of circumstance, and the harassing group banter leaves a bitter taste of irony, of who is right and who are wrong.

Even the title remains questionable once the play has concluded; does the “girls like that” refer to the Scarlets of this world, and their terrible mistakes, or her peers who seem determined to gossip and spread hearsay through their outrage at what she did? I remain undecided, but an open-ended play is favourable if you wish to leave with deliberations about your own social engagements, which it certainly does. Face it, we never truly grow out of our malicious adolescent craving to better ourselves by putting others down, and I only said that because my dad is a black belt in karate!

Of course, it focuses on contemporary methods of harassing, online, but there’s interesting monologues dividing the present day, of twenty year gapped reminiscences, examples of masculine abuse and inequality, which though you assume are only there for an insight to past techniques of humiliation and how they differ or are similar to today’s, there’s a twist at the conclusion to roll them nicely into the narrative…. not forgoing, elders in the audience will love the cultural reverences I’d suspect the actresses would need to Google!

The nine other young actresses, Scarlet’s frenemies, each play their parts of equal substance, as if they were made for them. I pondered if they each took reflection from this on their own actions, or this is the superb direction from renowned director Lou Cox, or more likely a bit of both. But one thing I am sure of, the cast; Samantha Scott, Bea Yates, Eloise Bromley, Darcey Oswin, Megan Hughes, Pip Aldridge, Jess Harding, Jess Worrow, and Lisa Grimes, together with Chloe, play utterly convincing parts with gusto and actuality.

There’s subtly placed humour too, satirical and black, and it’s easy to see now how Girls Like That was named best play for young audiences at the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Awards in 2015, though I would argue with strong language and passionately delivered prose, here is a story to leave an impression on the most hardened adult mind equally.

Clogs and stilettos this play, for me, because being an honest reviewer, anyone who requests a nudie photo of me must either be criminally insane or a director filming a whole new level of twisted horror-comedy; walking in someone else’s shoes is most effective when they’re an entirely different style of shoe. Even if you cannot relate to the circumstance presented in Girls Like That, I believe there’s a moral there for us all, as the naivety of the characters mature, the nature of gossip and backbiting never really fades through age, it just gets more complex and crafty. Ergo, anyone, a victim, perpetrator or both will identify with this gritty, reality-driven play, but all will relish in its gorgeous portrayal.

The popularity of recognisable shows at theatres in general, means previous performances at our wonderful Wharf Theatre, such as The Railway Children, can be taken as red, whereas something lesser-known like this you have to take a chance. I’m only here to express my thoughts, and would humbly suggest Girls Like That displays the diversity of performances the Wharf are willing to put on, and you will leave breath-taken.

Well done to Lou and her team of aspiring, and indeed, inspiring actors at the Wharf Theatre Youth Group, it’s marvellous!

Girls Like That starts tomorrow, Thursday 20th July, and runs until Saturday 22nd. Shows at 7:30pm, tickets are from £10, from the Wharf website HERE, or from the Box Office on; 0333 666 3366.

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Wharf Theatre Brings Local Playwriter’s “Broken Wing” to Life

Zara is therapist to a sixteen year old refugee, trying to come to terms with the brutal horrors of war. Her own adopted daughter of the same age is dealing with her ‘inner’ conflict. As the characters of the two girls, Layee and Thea, emerge, they tell not only their own stories but each other’s, to a world which they often feel doesn’t listen or understand.

 
Showing the deep anguish, feelings of loss of identity and abandonment which can link both adoption and asylum, it’s the intriguing plot of Broken Wing, the world premier play of Devizes author Annie L Cooper. Annie was prompted to write it after her personal experiences as a therapist working in Bosnia with the victims of concentration camps, and having witnessed the complex issues involved in adoption. It’s being staged by director Lewis Cowen at The Wharf Theatre in Devizes for Tuesday 19th to Saturday 23rd June.

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Not set in any specific time or place, because sadly these issues still occur in all corners of the world, it’s a powerful production with strong language and disturbing themes, hence its over sixteen guideline.

 
What an inspiring move for our local theatre, adapting a local author’s work and staging an exclusive play which hopefully will be taken up elsewhere.

 
Catch Broken Wing at The Wharf Theatre, Devizes: Tuesday 19th – Saturday 23rd June 2018 @ 7.30pm Tickets £12/£10; concessions can be purchased from the website: wharftheatre.co.uk or at the Devizes Community Hub and Library on Sheep Street, Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm or by ringing 03336 663 366 For further information contact Karen Ellis www.publicity@wharftheatre.co.uk  

Ticket Source here

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