When I was asked if I would like to go and see Slung Low Shorts I had a vision of a fashion parade of summer wear put on by those young men who insist on wearing their jeans at a gravity-defying level, revealing three-quarters of their underpants.
Fortunately, the event was nothing like that but was a collection of seven short plays staged by the Slung Low theatre company upstairs at Holbeck WMC. The evening was charged on a ‘what you can afford’ basis, with those participating in whatever capacity sharing the proceeds. Fortunately, the place was packed, which was great news for them in both a financial sense and artistically. It must be soul-destroying performing to a half-empty house.
The seven plays were all written, directed and performed by separate groups, with the only thing they had in common being their uniform excellence. The subject matter and presentation varied between comedy, tragedy, social comment and horror. When I am faced with community theatre, I fear the worst in that they can be preachy or simply not up to a decent standard, despite good intentions, but those worries were instantly allayed.
The first offering was John Lennon’s Tooth. This was a comedy written by Dominic Brunt and directed by Jo Mitchell about a chap who mistakenly buys a tooth once in the mouth of John Lennon, which he discards but finds out years later has been used to clone the late genius. He contends that this young man belongs to him as it is he who still owns the tooth. There follows a piece of comedy reminiscent of the Royle Family, with the three actors holding conversations whilst watching TV. It was very humorous if a bit caricatured at times. Seamus O’Neill played Arthur the purchaser of the eponymous gnasher, the dual roles of the Auctioneer and Arthur’s wife, Rose, by Ruth Evans with Richard McNamara as John Lennon. Yes, it is the same Richard McNamara who is lead guitarist with the band Embrace and whilst we were not treated to any of his musical riffs, his verbal ones more than compensated.
Leah, written by Myrna Moore and directed by Steve Brennan, was a recollection of the experiences of a Windrush immigrant in the early sixties. Leah, Nicola Fisher, is a student asked to write about a hero in her family but can’t think of one until she finds an old letter written by her late grandmother, Ernestine, whose experiences are told in flashback. She suffers at work at the hands of her English co-worker Flo, who attacks her for working too quickly, but she is befriended by Bridget, an Irish girl, and their cultures are shared. I thought it significant that Ernestine’s new friend was Irish as immigrants from that country were treated almost as badly as those from the Caribbean. It was not an uncommon sight to see notices in the windows of lodging houses proclaiming ’No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs’. Kimberley Cochrane played both Flo and Bridget. This piece could easily have been overtly political but managed to make its point effectively without getting preachy.
The Barnum Effect by Lauren Klee, directed by Aisha Khan was the third offering and a two-hander between Cathy Breeze, who played Sandra, a medium, and Jeanette Percival as Lisa, who goes for a consultation to see what the future has in store. The premise for the visit is Lisa wants to have a child but her wife is not so enthusiastic about the idea. As the play develops it becomes clear that this problem is just the tip of the iceberg and other secrets are revealed. The following is not a spoiler; I had to look it up later, but The Barnum Effect refers to people such as fortune-tellers who can use vague terms to describe situations in such a way so as to make the listener believe that they are specific to them. Thank you, Wikipedia. The play was very well acted and, whilst being a bit darker than those previously, still had flashes of humour.
Crappy Birthday To Me by Cat Davies and directed by Natalie Quatermass was a black comedy concerning Indigo, Ruth Berkoff, who was thrown a surprise birthday party by her parents Kenneth – Michael S. Siegal – and Lesley – Fiona Egan – much to the dismay of their other daughter Moonbeam, played by Phoebe Farrington. The parents are faux right-on environmentalists, a feature which was beautifully illustrated by Lesley’s pronunciation of quinoa as it is spelled rather than keenwa as it should be. The play was great fun and managed to stay on the right side of slapstick and farce. There was a fifth cast member in the form of Indigo’s man friend whom she had invited to the flat whilst unaware of the party. I am afraid that I cannot give him credit as, although pivotal to the plot, he is not mentioned in the programme.
After a twenty minute break, the drama continued with The Sensational Emmet Bradshaw and Trevor by Paul Fox: director Russell Richardson. This was a performance piece involving the audience, which made it very effective. Emmet, played by Darren Jeffries, is a ventriloquist whose private life is in turmoil but he begins his performance as normal by cracking jokes and being generally jolly to us. It is when he introduces Trevor, his dummy, Terence Rae, that things take a dark turn. The conversations with the dummy become more revealing until you begin to wonder if he is using Trevor as a cathartic device or if the dummy has a life of its own. The acting was brilliant, with Terence Rae, whose physical movement was obviously restricted as he was playing a piece of wood, using his eyes to bring humour and terror to the piece incredibly effectively.
The Meeting, by Jaden Clark with Sarah Applewhite directing, was the most intense piece of the evening, with the titular meeting being between a criminal, Karen Baxter – Nicky Davy – and the couple whom she had robbed and assaulted in their home with her boyfriend whilst under the influence of drugs. She had managed to rehabilitate whilst in prison but was urged to take this step by her probation officer, Joe Rider played by Roger Rowley, for the benefit of all parties. Michaela Short and Bill Blackwood played the victims of the crime, Elsie and Terry Sutherland, who came to realise that they were not so different from the perpetrator as they thought. I found this a bit contrived but I’m sure that was because of the time constraint. Another very good piece.
The final play of the evening was Kings by Mae Milburn, directed by Sue McGeorge, being a conversation between Adele and her brother Billy, played by Martha Godber and Tom Gibbons. They were discussing how to deal with their alcoholic mother, who was suffering from dementia, whilst still being able to make lives for themselves. Being conversational there was no plot as such, but the salient points were made lucidly and with passion.
There was a fluidity and cohesion about all of the performances, even though the subjects were so diverse. The co-producers: Jo Adamson-Parker, who was also responsible for casting, Mark Cateley and Lisa Holdsworth are to be congratulated, as are Technical Producer Jonathan Chadwick, as well as the Stage Management team comprising James and Joe Tully and Georgia Grant.
Walking back to the City Centre I couldn’t help but marvel at the depth of talent on display in Leeds and hope that we can return the gift given to us by supporting it as much as possible.
