REVIEW: BAR at The Hope Theatre / Camden Fringe 6 – 9 August 2023

‘Enjoyable, moving, relatable, and on its way to being great’ ★★★

BAR is a clever, heartfelt reflection of the hospitality industry, accompanied by strong movement sequences and original live music. It portrays a goodbye, from four women to each other and the bar they knew as home.

The four characters are all well-developed, believable, complex women – whose individual stories marry together to try solve a dilemma of consent and compliance. It is impressive, that in a production just short of an hour, the company can move through tangents whilst never losing sight of the storyline; that the women are of equal standing on stage despite there being a subjective ‘main character’ – Cecilia – who everyone else orbits around.

They each all give good monologues, well-acted, and their dialogues seem natural. There could be quicker cue-biting between some of their exchanges, with occasional stilted conversation creating awkward pauses that leave us unsure whether intentional or not.

Despite the serious themes, there is lots of laugh-out-loud moments within the show, as well as some great call-backs and hilarious pop culture references. This offered a nice touch of humanity to the sadness, seen with many goodbyes-to-new beginnings. This is amplified by Tucker and Zhang’s live piano playing, which is a fantastic addition to the show.

The use of physical theatre is a strong aspect to the piece, beginning as the audience takes their seats, and continues through club-sequences and flashbacks. It would be great to see more of it: perhaps through transitions, which often felt clunky and slow – that as a result lessened the impact of the scene prior.

Beginning with a looping club track and completed with a standing ovation, the company effectively invite the audience into their world, subvert expectations and easily entertain.

Ultimately, BAR seems a little under-rehearsed, but is nevertheless enjoyable, moving, relatable, and on its way to being great.

BAR by the company:

Valia Katsi, Inbal Port, Catty Tucker, Amy Zhang

The Hope Theatre: 6-9^th August

Box Office: https://www.thehopetheatre.com/productions/bar/

Reviewed by Anna Rastelli