Tag: comedy

Interview: Yolanda Mercy, Quarter Life Crisis

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“Alicia is a hot mess. She doesn’t know where she’s going in life. But everyone around her seems to know what they are doing. What does it mean to be an adult and when do you become one?”

Yolanda Mercy is Associate Artist at Ovalhouse, winner of the Rich Mix Small Story Big City Award, a visiting lecturer for Central School of Speech and Drama and a trustee of the National Youth Association. Incredibly, she also has time to be an actor and playwright, and this Easter weekend brings her new show, Quarter Life Crisis, to Ovalhouse as part of their FiRST BiTES series.

“I’d like audiences to take away with them the element of learning that it’s okay not to know what you’re doing with your life,” explains Yolanda. “We’re constantly bombarded with stories of people who are the same age as us, but seem to have it all together. I want audiences to leave the show empowered, knowing that even if you feel like you’re lost in life, there is a way out – and sometimes the clues within our names can lay the foundation of that empowerment.”

Yolanda was inspired to write the show by her own personal experience. “I felt like I was having a Quarter Life Crisis when my friends were getting married or having babies, and my biggest worry was that I have to surrender my 16-25 railcard.

“I’ve been thinking about this show for over a year, but I started working on it at ARC in June. Since then I’ve performed extracts of it at Brainchild’s Hatch, Vault festival and Ovalhouse theatre. The feedback and responses from the audience have been overwhelming – with a lot of audiences saying, ‘this show is so funny and really relatable’. Which is such an honour because I’m constantly told by audiences who have seen my shows like On The Edge Of Me, that my work is relatable.”

So, is this just a show for young people on the verge of adulthood? “No. I would say that this show is for anyone who has experienced a Quarter Life Crisis – who’s felt like everyone around them has gotten their life together quicker than they have.”

In December 2016, Yolanda was appointed Associate Artist at Ovalhouse, and Quarter Life Crisis is the first of many exciting projects she’ll be working on over the next two years. “I’m from south London. I live 12 minutes’ walk from the Ovalhouse. 6 minutes if I’m feeling lazy and need to rent a bike,” she says. “Being at this theatre where so many artists who I admire have gone through is such a huge achievement. I’ve worked really hard alongside my team Gemma Lloyd and Jade Lewis to constantly work to make exciting, thought provoking yet honest shows. I feel honoured that we’ve already started to build a loyal audience who come to see our shows time and time again. I’m so touched that people love our work. When we were doing On The Edge Of Me, we had audiences who saw the show three times. So it’s great to have a base like Ovalhouse for my audiences to access our shows and workshops.”

The show features live music, and a special guest from the local community – and there’s an element of audience participation too, although Yolanda’s keeping the details under her hat for now. “All I can say is be prepared to join in and have some fun…”

Quarter Life Crisis is at Ovalhouse from 13th-15th April.

Interview: Paul Bradley, Caste

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Best known to many for his long-running roles in Eastenders and Holby City, next month Paul Bradley will be taking to the stage at the Finborough Theatre in a long-awaited revival of T.W. Robertson’s Caste. This new production from Project One marks the 150th anniversary of the ground-breaking comedy, which hasn’t been performed in the UK for over 20 years.

So what’s it all about? “Well of course the clue’s in the title,” says Paul. “It’s a play about social divisions in Victorian London. Eccles, a drunken father with no money, has two daughters: Esther, who’s being courted by George, an aristocrat and miles above her in social station; and Polly, who’s being courted by Sam, a man of her own social class. George’s mother is a snobbish Marquise who disapproves completely of the match and is appalled by the Eccles family. George and Esther marry but he’s called to fight in India. He disappears and Esther’s father drinks and gambles away all the money that had been left for her and she’s now, as well as having given birth to a son, impoverished again. I won’t spoil the denouement but it’s a comedy so all ends well!”

Photo credit: Greg Veit Photography

Paul joins the cast – which also features another TV favourite, Susan Penhaligon – as Esther’s father Eccles, and he’s enjoying exploring his character’s hidden depths: “Eccles is a drunken father – so a bit of a stretch for me there! He’s a complicated man. On the surface he seems just a drunken beggar, but he’s intelligent and sees himself as being as good as anyone in a higher station. He is also cruel and has an addict’s selfishness. He claims to be a champion of the working man but hasn’t worked a stroke in twenty years. Although he doesn’t live by them, the sentiments he spouts are commendable; he’s a victim of both his circumstances and his own ‘life choices’.”

Caste was described by George Bernard Shaw as “epoch making” – but what made Robertson’s play so revolutionary for its time? “It’s the first ‘cup and saucer’ play – the equivalent of the 60’s ‘kitchen sink’ dramas,” explains Paul. “And it’s as radical as they also were. The people and situations are realistic – a mirror to nature of Two Nation Britain. It’s also that rare thing; a funny play which looks at English social mores.”

And Paul believes the play is just as forward-thinking today as it was 150 years ago. “Absolutely. It’s so modern, so – depressingly – relevant. A real political play. It expresses, in a comical way, real, deep concerns about class, aristocracy, poverty and social mobility.

“It’s very funny and moving and a sort of social document. I think it will amuse, move but also leave an audience thinking. It spotlights the challenge of social mobility. Without satire it introduces real characters whose social gulf seems insuperable but who, in finding love, see that gulf as irrelevant.”

Photo credit: Greg Veit Photography

Caste‘s production team is headed up by director Charlotte Peters, currently Resident Director on An Inspector Calls in the West End. “I’m rather daunted by how brilliant the cast and director and designer are,” says Paul. “They’re a brilliant team who are all committed to making this show a landmark production.”

It’s been more than two decades since Caste was seen in the UK, and Paul’s delighted to be bringing the play to a new audience. “When I first read the play I loved it and felt I had to be part of it. I can’t believe that this hugely influential work hasn’t been performed for so long. It’s the sort of groundbreaking play that the National or RSC should be championing.

“Because it is such a gem I feel a responsibility to live up to the author’s vision, and I think this is a view shared by us all. With a play of such quality it is a gift to be a part of the production. I hope that we start a re-appreciation of Robertson’s work and find a new audience for him.”

Caste is at the Finborough Theatre on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays from 2nd-18th April.

Review: The Wedding Singer at the Orchard Theatre

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The Wedding Singer‘s first show at the Orchard Theatre had the ultimate happy ending last night, when a member of the audience got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend live on stage. Still, even without that added bonus, you’d have to be a pretty hardened cynic not to come away from this show feeling a little bit in love with love. (And this from someone who by the interval was identifying most with the song about how rubbish it is to be single at a wedding.)

Based on the movie starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, this is the story of Robbie Hart (Jon Robyns), a wedding singer who loves helping happy couples celebrate their big day. But then his own fiancée Linda (Tara Verloop) jilts him at the altar and suddenly Robbie’s not so keen on romance any more – until he becomes friends with, and inevitably falls for, waitress Julia (Cassie Compton). The only problem is, Julia’s just got engaged to sleazy Wall Street banker Glen (Ray Quinn), while her cousin Holly (Roxanne Pallett) has her eye on Robbie. A brief spell in a dumpster, a trip to Vegas and one wildly inappropriate granny dance later, can true love win out?

Photo credit: Darren Bell

Fans of the movie won’t be disappointed, as the musical is pretty faithful to Tim Herlihy’s story, with just a bit of a tweak at the end – and it even includes a couple of original songs sung by Adam Sandler in the film, though the majority of the musical numbers are new, written by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin for the stage. It’s a catchy score, with a good balance of big dance numbers and soaring ballads, a smattering of so-bad-they’re-fabulous lyrics (“oh Linda you make me feel… like a furtrapper clubbing a seal”) and enough of an 80s flavour to help us over any disappointment at not hearing all the classic tunes from the movie.

And it’s not just the music; 80s-inspired set, costume and script mean this is very much a nostalgia trip in every way for those of us old enough to remember that far back. After enjoying clips from retro movies before the show, a brief ride in the DeLorean transports us back to 1985 and a world of big hair and even bigger mobile phones, where Starbucks is just thinking about going national and the height of ambition for any musician is to work with the same guys as Bon Jovi.

Photo credit: Darren Bell

Jon Robyns leads an impressive cast (and a particularly hard-working ensemble) with a performance so engaging he has the audience half in love with him within minutes, so that when he gets his heart broken and goes to the dark side, his self-pity is endearing rather than annoying. Ray Quinn is suitably obnoxious as Robbie’s love rival Glen, really coming into his own in Act 2 with a show-stealing dance number that’s just one example of Nick Winston’s brilliant choreography. Cassie Compton’s Julia is sweetness personified, and both she and Roxanne Pallett as Holly impress with their powerful vocals, while Ruth Madoc – who the 80s kids among us will remember from Hi-de-Hi! – makes a welcome but all-too-brief appearance as Robbie’s grandma Rosie.

There’s so much to enjoy about The Wedding Singer – it’s funny, with a great cast (shout-out also to Ashley Emerson and Samuel Holmes as Robbie’s bandmates), toe-tapping tunes, engaging characters and a classic rom-com storyline that means you’re pretty much guaranteed to leave with a smile on your face – even if you don’t get to witness a marriage proposal – and reminiscing fondly about the good old days.

The Wedding Singer is at the Orchard Theatre until 25th March.

Review: Four Thieves Vinegar at Barons Court Theatre

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Guest review by Ross McGregor

Four Thieves Vinegar is a new play by Christine Foster, directed by Adam Bambrough for The 42nd Theatre Company at Barons Court Theatre. At times with the Fringe Theatre industry, grand ideas take place in tiny cramped arenas, but here we have a perfect unison of play and venue in that the subterranean vault-like gloom of the Baron’s Court Theatre is transformed into a 17th century prison cell and this genius venue choice complements the aesthetic of the tale perfectly. The most striking element of this production is its design. Sally Hardcastle and Will Alder deserve the highest of praise for their work on this production, as they have elevated it to something worthy of the West End. The lighting, props, costume and set decoration are simply flawless, creating a perfect, captivating world in which the actors can play in. From tiny details of amber window effects, to the dirt underneath the actors’ fingernails, it’s all done with an attention to detail that is staggering.

The plot revolves around three inmates of Newgate prison and their kindly jailer, in the time of the Black Death. The possibility of a cure is understandably on everyone’s minds, and fearful superstition of God’s wrath is heavy in the air, thicker than vinegar fumes and hot brick ash. Matthias Richards, played with grace and sincerity by Nick Howard-Brown, is an impoverished alchemist trying to cure the plague before time runs out. Kate Huntsman is a fiery ball of energy and pathos as Jennet Flyte, Richards’ romantic interest, an innocent young maid who is awaiting the noose once her baby is delivered. Hannah Jeakes is the third prisoner – a world-weary nurse, played with gravel-voiced anarchic glee by Pip Henderson. Simon Holt is their keeper, with Bruce Kitchener as the slow plodding but well-meaning jailer, the lesser of the four roles but one he absolutely nails the timing for, and gets the most laughs out of an understandably grim subject matter.

The plot is packed full of different strands, but without spoiling anything too badly, no one is quite who they say they are, and as the play goes on, and the Black Death closes in around them, each character must make their peace with their own personal inconvenient truth.

This production has the makings of something truly outstanding, but unfortunately the ratio of gold to liquid in the alchemy of the show’s different elements is off, and as it stands, they are failing to fully dissolve together. The biggest culprit is unfortunately the writing. There are simply too many storylines for a 90-minute play, and it’s down to the director and writer to now work out which to keep and which to cut, if the show is to have a future revival. The plague plot is present throughout but it’s often side-lined by bickering and innuendo that tire after a while. Huntsman and Howard-Brown have the most to do in terms of characterisation and arcs, and they’re the glue that hold the production together. Huntsman is perhaps the most watchable and fully-formed in terms of her performance, claiming the stage like a little tear-stained imp, whilst giving a clear intention with every single line she’s given, whilst Howard-Brown gives his best Hamlet The Science Nerd, injecting much-needed wide-eyed mania bordering deliciously on obsession. You’re never quite sure if Richards is telling the truth about claiming to have discovered a cure, and Howard-Brown plays this with mastery and a delicate toying with the text. Kitchener has a paternal heaviness that is kindly, genial and reassuring – a lighter moment in amongst the darkness, and much needed.

Four Thieves Vinegar is an interesting idea, that could do with being longer, slower, and more precise in its plotting and pacing. The director needs to be clearer about the placing of the different narrative elements, and the cast need a script that matches their abilities, and one that isn’t so overwritten. And somebody at the Almeida needs to hire the show’s designers immediately.


Can’t see the map on iPhone? Try turning your phone to landscape and that should sort it. I don’t know why but I’m working on it… 😉

Interview: Sophia Del Pizzo, Assmonkey: In Conversation

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“‘Science’, cats, Rick Astley and wank jokes,” is Sophia Del Pizzo’s concise and intriguing summary of her one-woman show, Assmonkey: In Conversation, which has its first full preview at the Rosemary Branch on 31st March.

Expanding a little, she continues, “The show is about anxiety and mental health, and what I and a lot of other people do to self help. I wanted to do this show to encourage people to talk about it more. I perform methods of coping strategies I’ve learnt over the years, which I think other people could hopefully use with their own problems. I wanted to pass on things I’ve learnt. Share the knowledge and confidence in speaking out.

“What I’d like audiences to take away is that we need to start talking more and to encourage people, especially men, to open up more. But also to take away the core message of the show, which has really helped me. Mysterious I know, but come and see the show. Smooth…”

But surely performing for an audience – especially solo – must be one of the most nerve-wracking things you can do. How does Sophia overcome her anxiety about going on stage? “I don’t,” she answers simply. “I really don’t; I’m terrified, as it’ll be its first full public showing. People might hate it, but at least I would have tried. Anxiety is fear and this is something I need to overcome. The good thing is I am able to use my nerves and fears, as some of the characters in the piece require it. I’ve never done anything like this before, but the nerves are all part of the show and I just have to allow that. For better or worse.”

Sophia had the idea for Assmonkey: In Conversation about a year ago. “I’ve been writing it for about six months and only this year started to preview it. I’ve never written a show before, so this preview will be the first time it’s been performed in full. Scary, but I guess everyone has to have their first show, right? I started by noting conversations I had in therapy and really looking at what I do to manage anxiety and how I’ve gone wrong in the past. I’ve thought of ways to bring character work and humour into it because I still want people to be entertained, even though it’s a difficult subject. I improvise a lot of the characters and write from there.”

Though she’s never performed the full show before, Sophia did preview an excerpt at last month’s HerStory festival at Theatre N16, and received some great feedback. “It’s been useful to realise different audiences get it and some don’t, which really has amped up the fear factor,” she explains. “My first preview at the HerStory festival was glorious. I was touched by the comments and people seemed to laugh a lot – I hope all shows are like that, it was great to know the tone of the show can work. I’m performing a snippet at the awesome Hatch night too, so I will be loaded with useful feedback. What is really nice is that people who’ve seen bits have thanked me for being so honest, which is reassuring because at times it can feel very self-indulgent making people sit down and listen to your story. Typical actor.”

Sophia’s a member of the Soho Theatre Writers Lab, a course that offers writers the chance to develop and refine their voice, with support, motivation and guidance from the course leaders and members of Soho Theatre’s Artistic Team. “Shout out to the Soho massive,” says Sophia. “I applied online with some short comedy sketches I’d written and I’m loving the course, I’d say it’s definitely been one of the reasons I’m doing this show. The support and encouragement from the staff and from peers is so inspiring, and it’s meant I’ve gone to see a lot more theatre and talked ideas with my peers, to a point where my confidence as a writer and performer has grown enough to prompt me to do this show. But it’s also changed how I look at forming a journey and a story. I have nothing but good things to say about Writers Lab and the resources to new writers. The Soho Theatre also do amazing talks and workshops that are open to everyone.”

For anyone who’s suffering with anxiety, Sophia has a little (spoiler-free) advice: “Without giving my show away, I’d say everything I explain, in roundabout ways relates back to meditation and asking for help. Charities like SANE have great resources and of course organisations like this have websites packed with information. But I think the most important thing is to make sure you surround yourself with supportive people if possible. Try therapy, if you haven’t. Also try looking at anxiety not as something bad, but maybe as something you just need to understand.”

Assmonkey: In Conversation previews at the Rosemary Branch Theatre on 31st March.