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Posts Tagged ‘Alistair Cope’

The Sound of Heavy Rain

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , on October 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

The second of Paines Plough’s three new plays in their mobile Roundabout auditorium at the atmospheric (old) Shoreditch Town Hall is lighter than the first but just as entertaining.

Penelope Skinner’s piece is a chandleresque story of a private investigator engaged to find Maggie’s friend Foxie. All is not what it seems and to say too much more would probably be a spoiler (though the London run has ended). It’s tongue its firmly in its cheek and when you’re not laughing, you’re smiling.

As with Lungs, there’s no set or props, but this one has four actors. Andrew Sheridan is outstanding as the PI, getting the right combination of earnestness and nerdiness. Kate O’Flynn and Alistair Cope are back (in smaller roles, though one has a surprise up their sleeve) and they are joined by Maia Alexander who make s a very good job of shy nerdy Maggie.

I thought the final scene went on a bit, but overall it was a nice piece of writing well performed. I missed the third in the season but I’ll make sure I don’t next time. This was a very welcome visit to London from Paines Plough.

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Lungs

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 22, 2012| 1 Comment »

New writing company Paines Plough have got themselves a mobile auditorium, Roundabout, which has been placed in Shoreditch Town Hall for a short season of three plays. It’s a bigger version of the Royal Court’s set for Cock, like somewhere you’d have held a cock-fight. It reminds me of Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre – like a spaceship has landed inside an old building.

Lungs is a two-hander which starts with a discussion (in IKEA) between a couple about having a baby and in particular about the environmental impact of doing so (like giving birth to the Eiffel Tower, apparently). The man drops the idea as a bombshell in a less usual spin on such events.

The play develops through pregnancy, miscarriage, infidelity (him) and separation and it packs an extraordinary dramatic and emotional punch given its less than 90 minutes running time. Many of the scenes are short and you have to concentrate to work out how far we’ve moved on and the present state of the relationship.

I found the whole thing gripping, thanks to excellent writing from Duncan Macmillan and fine performances from Alistair Cope and Kate O’Flynn, particularly the latter whose emotions are more on display. They move around the small circular space, at times sparring and at other times affectionately, in Richard Wilson’s production.

A great piece of new writing, brilliantly executed.

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