[INSERT PLAY] - REVIEW - CAMDEN FRINGE

Two actors and a stage manager try to break out of their own play in [INSERT PLAY], a not-quite-successful experiment in clowning and meta-theatre by Onsen Presents, Sam Toocaram, and Joe Sear-Myles.

Dressed in blacks and ready to tackle their hopeless, sprawling, repeatedly rewritten script, confusion and banter reign supreme in this physical, jokes-heavy hour of aspiring clown. Nobody knows their cue, and it’s wildly unclear how the piece is supposed to go — both inside and outside the fictional play they’ve (sort of) created.

The framing of the show sees us fall through many loops of self-reference, the quest for meaning and the desire to put on a coherent show lapsing into itself in an infinity-mirror of self-consciousness. The urge behind this is laid bare by an impassioned monologue in which the dreaded line ‘this is therapy’ lays bare the fact that this play is far more for its performers than its audience.

The ‘story’ behind the show being made isn’t quite substantial enough to grapple with, and so there’s not a strong vessel to hold the comedy gags. With these, the three performers show an awareness of many of the tricks and games of the genre, but they often aren’t finessed to a point of quite landing. The show needs a considerable degree of baking, and I’d suggest the performers look at developing their clowning personas.

As principal collaborators, Sear-Myles and Toller bring an earnest and bouncy energy to characters that feel just a bit too close to themselves, completed by the dry and sceptical stage manager who adds a straight-man foil to the other’s enthusiasm. The dynamics work at points, but struggle to stand out against circumstances that don’t establish themselves well, nor evolve into anything particularly interesting.

Meta-theatre is a notoriously challenging genre, requiring a command of the form of stagecraft that here feels missing, and is perhaps a more ambitious attempt than what their current theatre-making chops can successfully realise. The effect is a piece that’s full of jokes and clowning business but doesn’t have the edge, natural charm, or stakes that a successful piece of clowning possesses.

The creators of [INSERT PLAY] must be applauded for biting off such an ambitious project for their first outing as a team. They are likeable and the audience wants them to do well. However, the piece is simply not very entertaining, and it feels like there are many lessons they need to learn before this piece will be ready for a fuller production.

{🎟 AD – PR invite – Tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review}

A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503
by Tom Carrao
The title of this winner of Theatre 503’s 2023 International Playwriting Award by Roxy Cook may seem like the set-up to a joke, but the narrative that unspools is instead an affectionate, gently barbed and at base quite sobering portrait of three ordinary souls (and one restless feline) adrift in modern Moscow. There is much affable, satirical back-and-forth commentary on the accepted myths & stereotypes of the Russian spirit & soul. Beset by the indignities of age, opportunism, graft, fatigue, the characters orbit one another, doomed to play out their roles in an unjust, predatory and saturnine universe. The play opens … More A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503
PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE
by Amy Rye
Peter Pan Goes Wrong first premiered in London at the Pleasance Theatre in 2013, and earlier this year the show made its Broadway debut. Now the production is back in the West End for the Christmas season. Following on from The Play That Goes Wrong, in this production, J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is staged by the fictitious Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society and goes awry, disastrously so. The meta-comedy is filled with slapstick comedy, sometimes the humour may be predictable and silly, but it’s universally funny throughout – there is something for everyone here, and the laughs come thick and fast … More PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE
GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE
by George Rennie
Drawing heavily from the classic canon of the British supernatural, High Tide’s trio of contemporary Gothic narratives uses traditional storytelling formats to address contemporary themes. Directed by Elayce Ismail, reverent musical interludes accompany tales of apparitions and nighttime conjurings that speak of women from the East of England. Unfortunately, the effect is less chilling and more lightweight, with conventional structures, predictable plot twists and an over-reliance on external forces to drive narrative shoring up some of the less relatable aspects of the genre. Nicola Werenowska’s The Beach House, perhaps the cleanest of the three tales, tells of a mother and … More GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE
CINDERELLA – REVIEW – LYRIC HAMMERSMITH
by Jenny Skuse
Drum roll please…(Cue a literal drum rolling across the stage.) The Lyric pantomime is one of traditions with the return of many well-loved jokes and skits. Costumes and sets are all made at the Lyric itself by Good Teeth, with set pieces being reused year on year. This year Cinderella gets the Hammersmith makeover, with some success. The costuming is fun and vibrant, with the ugly stepsisters’ equine pyjamas and hoop-skirted ball gowns giving all the wrong kinds of extra you need for those characters. Cinderella’s on stage dress transformation is magical and really well-timed. The Dame, Lady Jelly-Bottom’s, outfits … More CINDERELLA – REVIEW – LYRIC HAMMERSMITH
INTERVIEW – LINUS KARP – DIANA: THE UNTOLD AND UNTRUE STORY
by Amy Rye
Amy catches up with Linus Karp ahead of his performance of Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story, at London’s Clapham Grand. Linus and Joseph of Awkward Productions are also the masterminds behind the new show Gwyneth Goes Skiing. Hello Your Majesty/ Candle Entrepreneur, how are you feeling coming back from a hugely successful fringe and triumphant tour across your kingdom, ahead of performing in front of 700 of your loyal subjects, and before (the list never ends!) opening a brand new show, which has recently gone viral? Exhausted, exhilarated and alive. We’ve had the most ridiculous year – I feel … More INTERVIEW – LINUS KARP – DIANA: THE UNTOLD AND UNTRUE STORY