The Stage

Alice Bell

Published Wednesday 10 March 2010 at 17:35 by Natasha Tripney

First staged in 2006, this is the earliest piece in Lone Twin’s Catastrophe Trilogy. Alice Bell tells a story of love amid conflict. The piece contrasts a rather dark and unsettling narrative with a bright, whimsical method of telling in which the five cast members clasp ukuleles and regularly burst into song. In this way they describe Alice’s childhood in an unspecified war-torn country, charting her quarrels with her brother, her quirky school friends.

Paul Gazzola and Antoine Fraval in Alice Bell from The Catastrophe Trilogy by Lone Twin at Barbican, Pit Photo: Tristram Kenton

When an adult Alice (Molly Haslund) unexpectedly finds herself on the other side of the divide, she is harboured by a man with whom she falls in love. As a result, she decides to shed her old life and identity to become someone new. Her old self can never be fully shaken off, as the presence of a menacing hate-filled figure, played by Paul Gazzola, his face hidden by a mask, proves. When he uncovers her secret, she has no choice but to act.

Gary Winters and Gregg Whelan’s traverse staged production is endearing in places but it also has the capacity to irritate. The juxtaposition between the performers’ cheery manner and the tone of the material sometimes feels too arch. It is, however, interesting to the seeds of technique and the clear line of development that would lead to the far more satisfying concluding part of the trilogy, The Festival.