Split into two companies performing over two days at the Soho - about as good as space as you’ll get in London for a student show - each of Birmingham School’s showcases also inviting the audience to track those who impressed in the initial, quick-fire solo ‘window box’ section in either the main theatre or studio spaces afterwards. According to the school’s chief executive, Simon Woods, it is a format that has been reached in direct response to having sounded out agents and casting directors, the contemporary, musical and classical sessions designed to cater for all interests and casting needs.
Full credit then, as always to the opening ‘turn’, here being the brash, laddish Terry Beckett (from Dic Edwards’ Wittgenstein’s Daughter), played well with a blend of macho chavness and in-yer-face aggression by Eddie Beardsmore, before giving way to Polly Smith, as Suzie in Hold Me, a character who men, she said, feel challenged by, and pronouncing women to be the superior gender. Cue a jocular intake of breath from some men in the audience from which point Smith had won over both sexes present with her natural, assured delivery.
More prim, but maybe not all that proper, was Natasha Scott-Morgan as Kelly in Zeccola’s Scuba Lessons, going all Russell Grant, and sensing that today was going to be her day, aided by Horoscope predictions - in a piece that was certainly cast well, Scott-Morgan possessing a demure, warming persona which made this effortlessly realistic.
An unsavoury drinking scenario and its consequences - with James Horsman as John in John Godber’s Happy Families - was then a little lacking in spirit perhaps, before Jan Bridgman as Monika, in Andrew Bovell’s After Dinner, had the plus of a humorous script, the ‘bottom line’ being that her husband had passed away having lost control of his bowels in the process. You had to be there really, but the black comedy was well handled by a confident Bridgman.
Being billed as Tommy from Nick Love’s Football Factory was never likely to demand delicate delivery and John Patrick Berry certainly did not hold back, the crude references and mentality of the terraces being bought vividly to life by Berry. In contrast, any piece from Gentleman’s Agreement (Murray Watts) is less likely, you feel, to contain the F-word, and so it proved with James Bunyon suitably aloof as Sebastian and discussing social niceties, especially with regards to relationships and future life partner, Bunyon making for a convincing snob.
Immediately bright and bubbly as Sati in Gurpreet Bhatti’s Shameless, was Rajneet Sidhu - complete in ornate top plus boots - and with an effervescent character that almost demanded you like her. Her enthusiasm shone brightly through, even if it was not the most interesting of pieces, and that, as basic as it may be, always counts for a lot.
Certainly Johan Buckingham, as Michael in Santa’s Fan (by Marc Jones), a tale of comic conventions and unsurprisingly no girlfriends, had the presence and comedic intonation required and did not waste the good script, neither did Martin Copland-Gray as a ‘man behaving sadly,’ being hooked on soaps and satellite TV. You could almost see the empty pizza boxes and beer cans piling up around him on stage as Pete in Cold Feet.
A wisely chosen piece, well delivered, the two preceding pieces though making a snippet from Chasing Amy (by Kevin Smith), with Lewis Hardwood as Holden grab the attention less. Not so though, Christina Featherstone’s take on Agafaya from Gogol and Bentley’s The Marriage. Featherstone was just about perfect as the picky girl taking a lucky dip from her bag to choose a boyfriend, having earlier invented the perfect composite one, only to greet her random choice with a well-executed, well-timed “bugger!” to finish.
Darker, more serious and reasonably handled was the role of Anna in One Day All This Will Come To Nothing (by Catherine Grosvenor), by namesake Anna Bond. Interweaving serious drama with comedy is always a hard balance and the swift switch here meant this was hard work for Bond, but this was performed competently enough, as was Andrew Olsen’s presentation of Johnny from Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny, a new date proving an ill wind.
As the archetypal punchy, effective laddish piece, Rod Stone as Robbie from Stags and Hens (by Willy Russell) was certainly one of the more memorable. Funny and crude, his disgust at seeing his mate’s girlfriend drinking, of all things, out of a pint glass went down as well as a drop of amber nectar itself.
Another change of dramatic tack then saw Nazife Shah as Helen, from John Donnelly’s Bone, appearing at first to be well in control of her domestic life, before breaking down in what was at the end a entertainingly animated performance. A piece from A Vision of Love Revealed in Sleep (Neil Bartlett), with Neil played grittily by Evan Locke conveyed the gutter nastiness required of random, verbal homophobic abuse from a passing car’s passenger suffered by an innocent pedestrian, before Lauren Hersheson positively gushed with twittery enthusiasm as Catherine in Sheelagh Stephenson’s Memory Of Water, in a performance beyond criticism for effort, presenting a rather eccentric persona.
Played down nicely by Charlotte Froud was the role of Diana in Ayckbourn’s Absent Friends, alarmingly at ease with the prospect of her husband having an affair, there being not a single Froud-ian slip here with script or delivery. As Tasha in Neil Bell’s Dancing Days, Natalie Barker - full-on, and funny - certainly gave good entertainment for her few minutes onstage and she looks to have a maverick side well-suited to more eccentric roles perhaps.
Lucy Pierrot - here as Louisa in Nick Dear’s The Art of Success - was another a strong female personality, able to hold your attention throughout most of this piece, something which Curtis Allen’s ‘big’ hairstyle managed almost on its own. Given his appearance, well-suited to his role as frustrated rapper-cum-garden centre worker - Shelley in The Finishing School, by Steven J Anderson - this should have been a sure-fire hit, but his characterisation never quite convinced as being earthy enough, to use a gardening analogy. Making the audience warm to such a larger than life ‘character’ in the short time given is a tough ask, though.
With many actors obviously having made the point of making big entrances, it was also good to see that Kate Fornara - as Kate in A Carpet, a Pony, a Monkey (by Mike Packer) - had not forgotten the value of a good finish, here having set the scene involving a whirlwind romance, credit cards and designer shopping bags, then performing the perfect flounce off to end. Cue much laughter, cue next scene, bringing Ioan Jones on stage as Barry from Joe Penhall’s Dumb Show, in a role which again had the advantage of a good tag to finish, and which Jones performed with some aplomb.
Often, you have to question the casting of certain pieces at student showcases, and in the wrong hands the role of Millie in Bill Worthing’s Date Your Fate could have been pretty grim. But, thankfully, Laura Yandell got the gig and as the very picky (about men) Millie, she at shocked at first, then made you chuckle and looked a competent young performer. As did Nicholas John as Rupert in Richard Hurst’s One of the Best, Rupert bear-ing to kiss another guy but denying it was “a gay thing”.
With the break fast approaching, Catherine Tyldesley in her role as Mary - bursting to visit the loo in a Trip to Lourdes (by Karen Burns) - may have pre-empted certain wishes of the actual audience. Trying awful Franglais to make herself understood, her expressive, constantly fidgeting take on the role made you genuinely uncomfortable, but had you quite hooked.
At this juncture, the audience then had a veritable feast of choices to make - either catching the musical theatre satellite in the studio space or staying put to watch the other half of the cast perform a contemporary selection in the main theatre. Having plumped for the former, both Featherstone and Tyldesley again impressed in their respective pieces - Easy Money (from The Life by Cy Coleman and Ira Gasman) and The Boy from… (by Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rogers) - both being cast in eccentric roles similar to their earlier solo walk-ons.
Catching the Classical 1 satellite in the Studio, Bond and John certainly immersed themselves in their roles from Much Ado About Nothing, while perhaps the best two-hander came from Smith and Yandell as Lucetta and Julia in Two Gentlemen of Verona. Finally, the Contemporary 3 session - back downstairs in the main theatre, and so completing audience’s step aerobic workout for the day - saw perhaps the highest consistency of performance, the last piece finding the theatrical trio of Fornara, Sidhu and Bond wringing every bit of anger and recrimination out of a piece from Mark Ravenhill’s Handbag.
In a sense, this unusual format of different spaces puts the onus on the audience to get involved with the cast and indeed be enthusiastic about certain members. The only negative is that it is pretty much impossible to catch a second performance from every student, though I cannot see that being a cause of too much complaint so long as a few names have been jotted down after the hour and 40 minutes-long experience. Nor do you come away from many showcases with a video in a nice purple plastic bag - a film written and directed by the region’s leading film-makers and featuring some graduating students. Its title? Brummiewood II.
Derek Smith
EXPERT CHOICE:
Soho, London, May 17
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