Review of Utah Bride

Chapter Arts, Cardiff.
Sat 17th December

Where is home? Somewhere you feel you belong? Or under the love of a parent who will forever disagree with you but with the best of intentions?

Rebecca and Alice: a mother and daughter divided by a generation, religion and men. In the dead of night Alice returns to the maternal home and Rebecca wakes, only for light to be shone on the darkest corners and for truths and revelations to come out. 

It takes Alice the entire length of the play to answer Rebecca’s simple repeated question ‘Why are you here?’, continually changing the subject and disagreeing over the way things had been. Rebecca never seeing Alice’s pain or loneliness growing up in a valley where nothing changed or moved and being concerned with the way things are supposed to be – ‘What would the neighbours think’ and the Welsh Methodist mindset. Alice never seeing her mother’s joy at her little girl and giving her everything she could. Yet their lives following such similar paths as it is both husbands resort to violence, though one through drink and the other through God. The Grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

A small thing struck me, although it never slowed the plays pace or strong impact, the combination of American dream images and those of the ‘Mormon’ church are polar opposites. As the Church of Latter Day Saints believes in a simple life, banning much of everyday modern life whereas the American dream is big houses, cars and easy ready money. Or is it simply showing Rebecca’s limited understanding of the wide world outside her small Welsh valley? We are after all no different – there are striking similarities between the beliefs of both churches. Except of course the familiar ‘more tea’ and the very Welsh way of tea and talk solving every problem under the sun; something that always brings a smile. Routed firmly in Welsh Valley mentality and custom, the play used those conventions skilfully and without cliché or stereotype. 

Utah Bride is the first full length play by 1.618 Theatre Company, written by Carmen Medway-Stephens and as a play in development was shown script in hand. The director, actors and writer were given a week to explore the text for the two nights of performance in Chapter and even with everything stripped back and a simple a set, it was about more than just the words in the play as some script in hander’s can be but the play itself. With alternative endings on each night, the Saturday ending fitted perfectly, leaving the audience with the emotions of a turbulent night in front of them yet completely satisfied.

Utah Bride was a piece of theatre to feed the soul and make you think. I wish the writer and team all the best in taking it to a full performance and on tour, particularly as it is now going to be translated into Welsh.

Picture is play's promotional material/poster

Owen Sheer's Resistance - Film Review

3 Stars

It’s 1944 and the Nazi occupation of Britain has begun and the Resistance have scattered, abandoning their family and friends.

This is where Resistance opens, with farmer’s wife Sarah Lewis (Andrea Riseborough) waking alone in her bed as four men climb the hills away from the valley and a troop of Nazi soldiers entering the valley. Under the guise of occupation, their Captain undertakes the real task – searching for a lost artefact that will allow the Nazi occupiers to provide a certain justification for the war.

Traditional conventions in suspense are abandoned in favour of more menacing undertones of fear and violence. Shots are fired and their end result is clear but each shot pushes the emotional aspect rather than that of the gory, front-line convention of war. Yet in the truest sense of audience suspense we witness the shooting of four men and ambiguity is built as to whether it is the missing husbands only to find out along with Maggie that her husband is very likely dead.

The minimalistic dialogue and stretches of silence throughout the 90 minutes certainly adds substance to the ever present violent undertones and bleak desolation of the valley. Whilst dialogue is not necessarily needed to convey the emotional bridges being traversed by the characters – especially with the language barrier, the lack of dialogue creates frustration for the audience, wanting interaction beyond suggestive body language. In several scenes at the start the women’s silence towards Albrecht (Tom Wlaschiha) the only English speaker in the troupe, is conveyed as a protest towards the Olchan Valley occupation. 

The short sections of film detailing the ‘secret mission’ are exactly that: short - mixing the
mission to find the artefact into the plot feels like an added extra to give Sarah and Albrecht more chance to bond, rather than a greater purpose for soldiers at war. It left me wanting either more made of the secret mission sub-plot, or none at all. Sheen’s part is a cameo, bringing in the resistance element into the film with George (Iwan Rheon), a young boy entrusted with the task of observing and possibly intervening against collaborators. Although Sheen is ceremoniously killed by the German’s once discovered.

Wearied by war, Albrecht sets his men to help the women on their farms as the depths of winter set in and trap them all in the valley: there is a surreal normality set up as the men don civilian clothing, as if life carries on with or without war.

The bond formed between Sarah and Albrecht is endearing and although she still misses her husband Tom, writing to him almost every day in a journal she needs Albrecht’s presence and kindness. Her mind is at war between her memories of her husband and her growing feelings for him.

The end sequence of scenes is the most heart-breaking: it is George’s actions against Maggie’s seen ‘collaboration’ with the soldier in the country fair that brings about the characters final actions. With Maggie’s discovery her husband likely dead and her horse shot dead beside her she goes into shock, followed by the panic of one soldier who runs off with the radio to inform his superior’s. Sarah and Albrecht make to run to the hills yet it is Sarah’s loyalty to Tom that destroys him. She sets fire to the artefact in act of love and betrayal, love for her country and for him yet if German superiors found Albrecht and the destroyed artefact they would kill him as a traitor outright. Sarah wanders off into the hills to find Tom, leaving Albrecht to discover her abandonment as he runs back to the house in fear.

I must admit, one curious part of my evening was my discussion after with a particularly picky historian and it was his opinion that the film’s premise of “Imagine if D-Day had failed...” was historically inaccurate, fictionalized and counter-factual or not, the German occupation of Britain would never have occurred after D-Day or even that late in the war if D-Day hadn’t been planned: in 1941 maybe, not 1944. Although he did admit, that aside, it was a very good film.

For all its slights Resistance is a powerful emotional film with vats of atmosphere and fantastic casting, the use of the landscape is dominating and commands the audience appreciation of its beauty and volatility.

Review of Dirty Protest' Office Christmas Party

1^st December

Various locations on City Road, Cardiff.

 Writers:

Duncan Macmillan
Beth Granville
Alan Harris
Aled Roberts
Marged Parry

It’s the 1^st December, so Christmas has come again, at least it was for Dirty Protest’s curious menagerie of plays last week. Presented with a Christmas card, sweets and tinsel the party atmosphere descends unapologetically and invites you to sit, drink and be merry.  Billed as five new plays exploring the world of the Office Christmas Party, Dirty Protest’s talented writers took the audience around an Office Party Time zone, from the before and after to slap bang in the middle and the outside looking in.

First up was A Cold Coming by Aled Roberts, having settled in warmth of the Park Conservative Club with drink in hand, a body is carried through the crowd accompanied by take-away pizza and the cast. Brought together by the request of a dying man for his last rights, the short piece focused on the feelings brought out by the significance of Christmas – Carrie and her failed relationship with her mother and the slightly predictable religious banter between rival parish priests. It was an engrossing piece that could be explored and taken beyond its short life.

Next up was Foiled: introduced to Sabrina, a stereotypical hairdresser and her staff; we follow the antics disastrous events as they finish up shop before the Christmas party. The strongest performer was Francois Pandolfo playing Richie. The piece did appeal to the audience with spectacularly funny moments although there was a reliance on stereotypes to carry it forward.

Duncan Macmillan’s Mistakes have Been Made brought in the theme of recession much more than the others with a one man show about a shady, smooth talking Manager whose rambling party speech told the story of an ailing company struggling with corruption throughout its ranks. Filled with office anecdotes of desk sabotage and mockery of other offices, the audience played the part of his employee’s, raising glasses and allowing him to interact, creating a far more solid office party experience. It ended with real sabotage as ‘audience members’ bundled him into a back room for a ‘beating’: certainly the strongest of the five pieces.  

The cosy Yurt at Milgi’s was up next for Before I go.  A small slice of the world outside the Christmas Party was represented by this one man monologue: a victim of recession cuts, John laments over his job as Santa for Christmas to Janet a co-worker who never took notice of his feelings.  Ditched, he is slipping away molecule by molecule.  Given the 15 minute slot the piece gave enough to enjoy it with a rather engrossing narrative – pity it couldn’t have been that little bit longer.

Lastly was The Demise of Photocopy Boy: Mary, played by Hanna Jarman, awaited a bus home after the office party and the audience were witness to her curious ramblings and opinions of office colleagues, life and the Christmas party. Initially seeming as a digression, her wonderings about serial killers develops into a plan to kill Photocopy Boy: an innocent whose feelings have seemingly now landed him in hot water. Slightly off kilter against the others the play certainly stood out, a well written script gave it credence. Certainly stood in a bus-stop squeezed in with 20 other people listening was a different experience.

The Dirty Protest team certainly lived up to their promise and re-claimed the Christmas party, if not dirty it was most certainly daring and attention drawing: it wholly depends on where you take ‘Dirty’. An almost flawless night, any small delay between was negligible as the atmosphere buzzed and everyone got stuck in.  I certainly enjoyed being a Dirty Elf!