If I Were You, Carver Theatre Marple, 28/2/14

The Carver's latest production is the Alan Ayckbourn play, If I Were You. Centering on a couple of days, and one extraordinary event, in the lives of married couple Mal and Jill Rodale and their families, and a very enjoyable evening it was.
 
On purchasing a programme the usher warned us not to read it too closely before seeing the play, and I'm glad she did as there is a very detailed synopsis contained within, which would have spoiled the surprise for a first timer to this play as I was. The play has quite a slow start, and you wonder where it is going. Depressed Jill (Joanna Bircher) is moping through life in an unhappy marriage to her repulsive cheat of a husband Mal (Stephen Johnson). However, the play really gets into it's stride in the second half as Mal and Jill deal with the unusual position they find themselves in, and it's clear that Bircher and Johnson have a whale of a time portraying these changed characters, with some well crafted and and highly comedic detail.
 
Stacey Coleman and Mike Wallis as Mal and Jill's kids Chrissie and Sam, and Simon Donahue as Chrissie's bully of a husband Dean, complete the cast and delivered a great show on this opening night. The two level set was cleverly used to portray the two settings of the action, the Rodale's home and Mal's workplace. They certainly managed to pack a lot onto the bijou stage at the Carver.
 
Special mention should go to Wallis as teenager Sam, his performance was excellent and highly amusing, and he earned a well deserved spontaneous round of applause from the audience at one stage.
 
There were a few empty seats on the night we visited, the show is on until the 8th March and if there are tickets available for the rest of the run I'd recommend it. Details can be found on the website and tickets are only £8, you can pay that for a drink at some theatres these days!
 
All in all, a highly enjoyable and excellent value night out, in one of the friendliest little theatres you could hope to visit.
 

Blindsided, Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester, 8/2/14

The first time I ever visited the theatre solo was to see Simon Stephen's ‘On The Shore of The Wide world. It was set in my home town, and I was keen to see it, but couldn't get anyone to come with me, so I summoned up the courage to go alone. I remember being blown away by both the play, and the realisation that plenty of people go to the theatre on their own and nobody stares and points! That was probably the point my theatre interest tipped over the edge into a theatre obsession!
 

Stephens returns to a Stockport setting with this new play at the Royal Exchange. Set primarily in 1979 it focuses on the relationship between young teenage mum Cathy and newcomer John, both to some extent misfits from Society’s norms.  It has echoes of other plays of his I have seen set in Stockport, there are common themes of striving to escape from the mundane, of feeling trapped, although the 'escapes' are seldom successful!
 
This latest outing is a strange thing indeed. I can't quite make my mind up as to what the writer intended. The speech styles of the two main characters are stilted and un-naturalistic. Whilst this seems to work for the character of Cathy, a stream of consciousness whirlwind with no filter, portrayed in an outstanding performance by Katie West, I felt it was less successful with the character of John. Andrew Sheridan played the part excellently, but I found the character unconvincing and couldn't understand why he would exert such power over the ladies he came into contact with.
 

Rebecca Callard, as Cathy's best friend Siobhan, once again proved what an excellent stage actress she is, with a nicely balanced performance. The box office draw for the Exchange was of course Julie Hesmondhalgh, fresh from popping her clogs as the much loved Hayley in Corrie. She gave a fine performance of Cathy's mother, but I felt that the script only allowed her to really shine in the latter part of the play when she portrayed the older Cathy. I am very glad I have the opportunity to see her again in March in Black Roses at the Exchange studio.
 
The one character that I really didn't 'get' though was that of Issac, played by Jack Deam. I wasn't sure what the character added, and if I'm honest it felt like a waste of a good actor.
 

Despite usually avoiding reviews before I see a show, I did see a few negative comments about the play on the theatre's website, including complaints about the language. Personally, I didn't feel the swearing was an issue, and when it was used it wasn't out of place, particularly in the 1997 setting. To be honest, much as I detest it, liberal scattering of the F word is exactly how many Stopfordians speak. There were however a few directorial choices I had difficulty with. The treatment of the main sex scene uses a style I have seen used equally unsuccessfully in other plays, went on too long, and to be honest just made me want to giggle, albeit it was a brave and energetic portrayal by the actors. And there was a moment toward the end of the play involving water that made no sense to me at all.
 

The set design was stark and sparse, and I felt very effective in setting the mood of the piece. There did however seem to be numerous sight line issues, despite a number of seats having been deliberately not filled, leading to a lot of seating moves in the interval. The lighting was clever and striking, especially towards the end of the play when it threatened to upstage the action on the stage!
 
All in all, I felt this was an interesting and thought provoking play, and a good contrast to other recent offerings at the Exchange. There were some really strong performances, but on the whole, for me, the play didn't quite hold together as well as I’d hoped.