REVIEW: REBOOT FESTIVAL week 3 at Barons Court Theatre 16 – 21 September 2024

'An exemplary showcase ... Baron’s Court Theatre at its best'

The third and final week of Baron’s Court Reboot Festival of new writing presents an evening full of thrills and catharsis, emotional highs and lows along with more than a few good laughs. It’s everything you’d want in an evening of short plays and is an exemplary showcase of Baron’s Court Theatre at its best.

Week 3, in order of presentation:

Bet Like a Man by Paul McNally, directed by Amalia Kontesi

Cast: Juan Echenique, Kathryn Bates

Starting the evening off on a shaky footing, this rather straightforward tale of gambling and friendship takes place in the waning hours of a pub winding down for the evening, with a man (Echenique) regaling the weary bartender (Bates) with his tales of greatness as she does her best to quietly get him to leave.

I say a shaky footing because this piece left a little to be desired - Echenique failed to make his character charming and instead came off as a little pompous, helping us sympathise with Bates’ strong and assured performance opposite him. It’s a shame then that Bates’s character is relegated by the script to a purely functional role, making way for Echenique’s often flavourless attempts at insight as he narrates a past with little interest or appeal.

With a slicker performance in the lead or a bigger role for a talented actor like Bates this piece could have sung. As it stands, more work is needed.

Vague by Ayowale Akanbi Ogunkunle, directed by Leo Bacica

Cast: Chris Chika, Hana Kong, Graham Rich, Lucy Buncombe, David Aguirre Firth, Clara Rozzi

This piece really shifts the night into gear, telling a story through both its script and lighting design that will make anyone sit up in their seats. What initially appears to be a confused encounter between two long lost lovers abruptly reveals itself to be about quite a bit more, both philosophically and narratively, as an enthralling experiment plays out.

It’s provocative stuff but the weakness here is in the performances, which were quite stilted throughout, sometimes appropriately for the story-beats at play and sometimes not. Additionally, the writing often strayed into encyclopedic territory as it rattled off philosophical and psychological theories with little regard to how the actual characters were using or even saying them. Monologues could at times feel more like recitations of Wikipedia articles.

But lifting this all up was the lighting design from director Baccia, which like the piece itself shocks the viewer into alertness while also telling a story of its own as it demonstrates the dividing wall between the play’s two sets of characters, caught on either side of the story’s ongoing experiment.

Overall, it’s a solid effort, that with refinement can definitely deliver on the strong potential it holds.

Motherland by Niall McCarthy, directed by Charlie Barker

Cast: Catherine McDonough, Charlotte Toublic

A stirring piece of theatre this, featuring wonderful performances by McDonough and Toublic as mother and daughter at the funeral of the family matriarch – McDonough mourning her own mother while Toublic’s character is more than happy to say goodbye.

This is meaty family drama, filled with just the right amount of tension and pathos offered by the two strongly differing perspectives presented, with themes of home and emigration that effortlessly weave in Celtic mythology. McCarhy’s writing operates on multiple levels at once and executes incisively at each.

A few stray threads hang off the end however. The parallels both characters draw with the above-mentioned mythology are not as tight as they could be in their current state, and the piece feels slightly longer than its narrative justifies, toward the end feeling like it repeats itself slightly.

Regardless of these nitpicks however, this is an excellent piece that can only go from strength to strength. According to the programme McCarthy is set to have another play ‘Derry Boys’ show at Theatre 503 in June – if this piece is anything to go by, it’s sure to be a standout show.

Cattle by Jacob Kay, directed by Julia Sohper

Cast: Everleigh Brenner, Lisa Maeda, Pelumi Adedayo-Bamidele, Gabriela Chanova

This was the most thought-provoking play of the night as well as the most puzzling. Brenner stars as a factory worker in an enigmatic setting, with a disembodied robotic voice giving her orders as she performs menial tasks across the stage – only to be interrupted by three figures in black who seem to be deeply involved in her personal life while also possessing unusually animalistic traits.

It’s an abstract script that lives or dies by its performances, and director Julia Sopher has done well to draw out a strong ensemble performance from Brenner, Maeda, Adedayo-Bamidele and Chanova. Together they create a narrative that may well be entirely inscrutable (the sexual nature of Brenner and Maeda’s relationship in particular muddies the waters) but Kay’s powerful writing matched by Sopher’s intelligent and engaging direction keeps the whole thing walking a fine line, creating a wonderful and rare piece of theatre.

It works well in its short format, and clearly has the bones for a longer piece. If you see any of these names popping up again, you won’t be disappointed by their work.

Corrector by Max Gill, directed by Lauren Maxwell

Cast: Stefano Guerriero, Gareth Turkington

The Corrector offers a familiar setup; a refugee and a suited man meet in a shady basement, the suit offers his services and the refugee asks how much. The twist here is what’s on offer, and what exactly the suited man will ask for in return.

To reveal any more would spoil things, but it’s enough to say the whole affair is quite brilliant and Max Gill has done well to squeeze in so much, so delicately in such a taut piece of writing. This is helped by the fact that Baron’s Court can boast an overall excellent production of this piece, with Turkington in particular doing incredible work to give his character depth and mystery in what may be the stand out performance of the entire week, while Guerriero matches him well as the sympathetic heart of the story.

Special mention must be made of the intense physicality that both actors display in this short scene, with each diving at each other, dodging and grappling as they fight in the tight confines of the stage. To do all this, and do it well, in such a difficult space is both a further commendation to Turkington and Guerriero as actors as well as director Maxwell’s keen directorial eye. If you’re looking for high-brow thrills that still get the blood pumping, you can’t do better than this.

Vandals by Ben Willows, directed by Sot A

Cast: Jonny Brace, Joe Flynn, Ben Willows

Rounding out the night is a story of friendship, historical conservationism and the plight of young people across the UK; Vandals is funny, heartfelt and blisteringly topical, delivering a wonderful ending to a great night of theatre.

The story focuses on 3 young men as they break into an abandoned monastery somewhere in the countryside, the initial plan of graffitiing the place falling to the wayside as they begin to bicker and debate amongst themselves the merits of preserving the old ruin or defiling it, a conversation that quickly becomes more about their own lives then it does the monastery.

It’s overall a consummate piece – brilliant acting combined with inventive staging and clever writing. Nothing can be said against it and in a full-length review I would offer nothing but buckets of praise. Fingers crossed Vandals has its full run soon – when it does, it’ll be a show everyone should see.

Reboot Festival at Barons Court Theatre

5 - 23 September 2023

Sound and Lights for Week 3: Flick Hemming