REVIEW: PERSISTENT SHADOWS by Super-8-Auteur at Bridge House Theatre 25 – 29 June 2024

‘Experimental and ambitious take on the 1980s’

It’s the 1980s and five young friends: Benny, George, Lucy, Sammy and Paul from Bettheshanger, a mining village, meet at their tatty local, The Leather Bottle, to discuss their hopes and dreams. All will take different paths as the decade unfolds. All will be shaped by the political movements of their time. What will the future bring?

The main character and uber-antagonist, though she’s not on the cast list, is Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative Prime Minister from 1979 – 1990. Represented by a ghoulish skeleton in a blonde wig, she is intermittently spotlighted and raised high; the Grim Reaper brandishing fat pearls instead of a scythe who throughout her reign oversees the closure of mines, decimation of communities, a war in the Falklands and regressive school policies.

Thatcher’s idea that ‘there’s no such thing as society’ only individuals, is one of the play's thematic strands which explores the weight of community versus personal desires. Some famous speeches are recorded as voice-overs and used as key pivots including the one quoting Francis of Assisi: “Where there is discord, let us bring harmony.” As the title suggests, the neoliberalism of the 1980s, a global trend, continues to cast a shadow over all our lives today.

Billed as a narrative-driven piece, it’s the experimental nature of the staged story-telling that speaks louder than any character or plotline. Audiences arrive in the middle of a rave re-enactment and then throughout the next lightening hour are hurtled through the political headlines of the decade. Our cast collectively head down into a mine shaft, are hurtled around the North Sea, are floored by an AIDS diagnosis and terrified by the possibility of nuclear war.

Super-8-Auteur, recent graduates from the University of Chichester, should be applauded for their ambition. The piece has been written collaboratively and collectively with no named director or writer. As an ethos or principle this is laudable, but as a staged piece of theatre, the result sometimes feels chaotic and unrefined, lacking coherence or clarity. When this happens, the audience is pulled from the play’s immersive intention.

It feels as though the characters have been created to serve the story (of the 1980s) rather than story serving character. As a result, the individuals became mouthpieces for the period, a kind of theatrical vox pop, rather than authentic characters the audience can journey and empathise with. The collaborative approach is also apparent in the language in the play which embraces diverse approaches: from poetic asides, earnest monologues, on the nose narration, popular ditties and folk songs. In parts it’s wild fun, in others, messy and undisciplined.

The ambitious political sweep of Persistent Shadows means too much material is bursting from the seams of this one-hour format. Some things that deserve far greater attention such as PTSD and AIDS are given a cursory mention. The soundtrack by Joel Yates has some great music choices of the period from Morrissey to New Order. Overall, this is an energetic, multi-layered, creative response to this decade that laid the groundwork for much of today’s social ills. But sometimes, less is more.

PERSISTENT SHADOWS at Bridge House Theatre 25 – 29 June 2024

https://thebridgehousetheatre.co.uk/

Written and directed by Super-8-Auteur