Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Lisa Symonds, Natalie Timmins, Emma J. Hind, Claryn Scott, Jennifer Bea.
Music: Reid Anderson.
Liverpool is a truly remarkable place. You can spend ten years immersed in the arts scene here, you can think that you have seen everything, in all of the many performance spaces that the city has to offer, from the great parks and the Williamson Tunnels, to the bastions of entertainment of The Empire, Playhouse and Echo Arena, taking in the myriad of large and small venues in between and then you can find yourself in a large room, in a gallery, high above Matthew Street and even there, in this fair city, if you look hard enough, you will find theatre.
The venue is the View Two Gallery and this production is Half the Sky a series of six monologues written by local playwright Ian Salmon. In this piece Ian channels his feminine side and writes only for female voices – attempting to answer the call to write interesting characters for female actors to perform.
Ian and director Anna Cardus are blessed with a very strong cast, full of brilliant performers who offer sensitive, earnest, honest performances; each presenting their problems or issue in a charming and inviting way.
Lisa Symonds opened the evening challenging Julie Walters as Shirley Valentine in Small Blue Thing with a character recalling her holidays to Rhodes; wishing that she could unburden herself from her womanly duties and just be free to swim as far as she could into the sea. Lisa’s performances set the pace for the night and gave a great opening to the evening, pulling at the audience’s sympathy, it was so easy to like her character.
Next Natalie Timmins burst onto the stage with a truly beautiful performance, full of confidence and class in Dreams of Flying. Her character regaled a tale about childhood where she dreamed of flying all over the U.K. Natalie’s performance really drew in the audience and her description of her travels from Liverpool to London and beyond created images in the audience’s minds which were as vivid as any hit blockbuster movie. It was as if she was a female Peter Pan who had made the mistake of growing up and forgetting the secrets of flight. Truthfully it could be said that this piece is a comment on growing up and a fable arguing against it. Maybe we all should be a little more childish and try to fly a little more often.
Emma J. Hind gave the final piece before the interval The Girl Who Loved Musicals, where a woman is sat hopelessly waiting in vein for a blind-date, this poor woman who just wanted to understand men and fall in love. In this monologue Ian Salmon evoked old fashioned values and a sense of romance that our cynical selves have lost in the 21st Century. Citing quotes by Marilyn Munroe and films such as Gone with the Wind and From Here to Eternity, Emma J. Hind did a brilliant job of playing quite a frumpy character, far older than her years. Everyone in the room longed for her date to arrive, they all wanted to feel that sense of love that Hepburn and Peppard had. A love that arguably now only exists in the musicals!
The second half was a monologue short, due to the unfortunate short notice indisposition of an actress but the audience were still treated to Claryn Scott in This is a low and Jennifer Bea in Good God You Said.
In This is a low Claryn told a semi-autobiographical story about accidentally running over a dog on the way to a party to meet the man of her dreams, only to find him snogging some other girl – the owner of the dog. Hilarious, again charming and possibly the most true to life piece of the night, expertly told by Claryn Scott.
Good God You Said closed the evening and what a gem. One of Merseyside’s finest actresses, Jennifer Bea played God and she was better than Morgan Freeman. Scouse girl God is a Deity that many would want want to worship of a Sunday with a pan of Scouse and a flask of tea. There was not a misplaced line in this 15 minute tour de force of a monologue. It was brilliantly written and at any point where one thought one was in danger of being preached at, Jennifer Bea’s expertly delivered one-liners saved the day. This piece was smart, punchy, light and a refreshing discussion on the importance of religion in today’s society. From for opening line ‘Hiyer, I’m God’ to the last, this piece was almost the perfect monologue with Jennifer’s performance being the highlight.
A very important mention must go to Reid Anderson who provided beautiful musical accompaniment between the monologues (as well as playing a rather dashing, if a little camp, waiter), some excellent song choices including Perfect Day and Pure Imagination and his voice was pure class, even if some of his piano playing was a little thick and heavy handed.
There’s another side to this evening too, the Country-wide debate around female performers in theatre and why there are ‘no good parts’ for women of a certain age (over 25?) Ian Salmon managed to write six great parts for women, (although he doesn’t name his characters, in the script each character is referred to as ‘A Woman’). Two of the pieces stood out during the night, Dreams of Flying and Good God You Said and this was because Salmon delivered real women to the stage talking about themselves and their situation, interacting (or overseeing control) of the world around them. In the other three monologues presented tonight, men, although not seen, played a huge part; love, loss, motherhood, being angry or regretting meeting your husband, all of these messages were touched on. The political theatre activist would ask why when writing for women in the theatre is ‘Men’ the topic. Surely there is more to talk about. Dreams of Flying and Good God You Said proves that there is more women can say in the theatre.
Half the Sky reminds us that we don’t have to stay in on a Friday night, or head to our usual watering hole, world class entertainment is literally around every corner of this fair city. The direction of some of the monologues could be tightened up a little bit, sometimes it felt like the actresses were moving as if presenting a lecture rather than their character needing to move at a given moment, however the showcase had brilliant writing, excellent performances from a very competent cast and beautiful music. The show is a must see.
Anthony Proctor