When I got invited to this show, I was intrigued. It sounded like nothing I'd seen before. The show sees evolutionary biologist Reed (Liam Croker) have his entire view of the world changed by the rumor of a rabbit fossil being found in a Precambrian rock: a scientific impossibility. His partner Jess (Olivia Noyce) doesn't help the situation with her endless stories about death. His colleague Clair (Charis Murray) with her obscure thought-experiments along with her husband Nick (Jamie Patterson) only add to the confusion, all centering around Nick's obsession with the charismatic one-man-cult leader, The Guru (Alexandra Octavia). Reed is forced to question whether rational thinking is really the best way to cope with this unpredictable universe. An interesting and strange description of a show, so you can see why I was intrigued. The fact I once worked at the Natural History Museum in London also means I have some scientific knowledge/understanding that only added to my interest.
For those of you that don't know, the Precambrian is the earliest part of Earth's history and accounts for roughly 88% of the Earth's geologic time. Relatively little is known about the Precambrian, despite it making up roughly seven-eighths of the Earth's history, and what is known was largely discovered from the 1960s onwards. It spans from the formation of the Earth about 4.6 billion years ago all the way to the start of the Cambrian period roughly 541 million years ago, when hard-shelled creatures first appeared in abundance. A specific date for the origin of life has never been determined, however well preserved microscopic fossils of bacteria older then 3.46 billion years have been found in western Australia and Carbon has been found in 3.8 billion year old rocks from islands off western Greenland which may be of organic origin. However there is evidence that life could have evolved over 4.28 billion years ago. There is a fairly solid record of bacterial life throughout the remainder of the Precambrian. This would mean for a rabbit fossil to be found in rocks that predate mammals is scientifically impossible, and would destroy all our modern scientific understanding of Earth and life as we know it. Thus we have the premise of the play.
The show is playing at The Front Room in Croydon south London, a space that creates a diverse programming of musical and theatrical performances. The venue states that it is "always striving to find a balance between 'top-class' live quality and accessibility." Located in two converted shops only a short walk from East Croydon station, the outside is fairly unassuming. Metal shutters pulled down covered in graffiti. Inside though is a pleasant surprise. A small yet attractive bar area, that has a very young feel about it, greats you as you walk in. The theare space itself is also small, with a very wide yet shallow stage. It looks very roughly put together, but then the space is used for a variety of activities so a more permanent structure would I assume be unhelpful in the space. The size of the space does however mean there is a very intimate feeling, with seating for maybe 30 people at most. The show is just the second full length production for Wrong Shoe Theatre who have become the resident theatre company of The Front Room.
Walking into the theatre space as an audience we were greeted by Alexandra Octavia, who plays The Guru, sat on the front of the stage and 'meditating'. The space in darkened with the sound of ethereal music flooding the room, broken occasionally with the sound of waves or crackling fire. This helps you as an audience member become relaxed and calm, engrossed in the atmosphere of this meditating Guru. The show starts, once the lights go down, with The Guru standing up and talking to the audience and explain who she is and what she believes. Alexandra's performance as The Guru was rather over exaggerated, with constant movement of her arms and a general attitude that showed a lack of sincerity and believability to/about her character. I felt it rather over the top at points but then maybe this is what the director Michael Greenwood wanted, though I felt it an insult to the writing. Many lines were lost and lacked the comic impact I'm sure they were intended to have. The Guru is the cross between a drugged up hippie and a posh millennial from Notting Hill. Perfect for the role of the cultist Guru, but as I said it felt a little over the top occasionally. So much so in fact that at times I struggled to understand what she was saying, with unclear diction and melodic talking. I get that this is the character, but one still needs to be able to understand what they're listening to.
Out of the cast of 5 there were two that stood out for me. This was Charis Murray as Claire and Jamie Patterson as Nick. Charis was extremely naturalistic, grounding her character and giving her a real personality, and an absolute joy to watch and listen to. She interacted well with the other cast members as was always making herself noticeable in the crowd, even when she wasn't a main participant in the scene. Her Scottish twang was calming in an often confusing and complicated mix of scientific jargon and overly long scenes. Jamie Patterson who played the bumbling fool that was Nick also a breath of fresh air. His comedic timing and portrayal of such an idiotic and simple minded man was a joy. Yes a bit over the top, but it was needed. He bought a lightness to an otherwise heavy show, full of moral, scientific and religious themes. These two are as far as I'm concerned already perfectly able to go into more main stream theatre. They know exactly how to fill a stage and realistically portray a character, whilst also having sometimes totally unbelievable or exaggerated characteristics. They absolutely made this show for me, otherwise I would have become slightly uninterested. They were let down by a cast that were otherwise rather monotone in their line delivery along with a lack of realism, which only prolonged the show more. There was a general feeling of the actors feeling slightly uncomfortable with the work and this didn't sit well with me.
I must also mention the lighting. For the majority of the show it was neither good nor bad. It suited the show wonderfully. However this wasn't the case for the start of the show when we as an audience are spoken to be The Guru. I believe Alfie Rackley, the lighting designer, was trying to go for a hippie like feel being almost psychedelic, however it was more confusing and distracting than anything. It seemed like the lights was changing every thirty seconds. Just some soft lighting with maybe a pinkish or bluish glow would have done. I was worried the whole show would be like this, but I had no need to be.
I'd like to say that the ending came out of the blue and was shocking, however that would be untrue. I hadn't predicted it totally correct, but it certainly wasn't a surprise. In no way does this mean the show failed at all, I just like for shows to keep me on my toes and this didn't happen this time. Also the ending seemed rather abrupt. It left questions unanswered and left me more confused than I had been at the start. The writer, Josh King, has a lovely writing style that is realistic and that has a lovely overall flow. This piece may need some extra tweaking for it to be perfect and I'm sure Josh has many good stories up his sleeve. The show has much potential, though I feel it was rather lacking with with production.
Walking into the theatre space as an audience we were greeted by Alexandra Octavia, who plays The Guru, sat on the front of the stage and 'meditating'. The space in darkened with the sound of ethereal music flooding the room, broken occasionally with the sound of waves or crackling fire. This helps you as an audience member become relaxed and calm, engrossed in the atmosphere of this meditating Guru. The show starts, once the lights go down, with The Guru standing up and talking to the audience and explain who she is and what she believes. Alexandra's performance as The Guru was rather over exaggerated, with constant movement of her arms and a general attitude that showed a lack of sincerity and believability to/about her character. I felt it rather over the top at points but then maybe this is what the director Michael Greenwood wanted, though I felt it an insult to the writing. Many lines were lost and lacked the comic impact I'm sure they were intended to have. The Guru is the cross between a drugged up hippie and a posh millennial from Notting Hill. Perfect for the role of the cultist Guru, but as I said it felt a little over the top occasionally. So much so in fact that at times I struggled to understand what she was saying, with unclear diction and melodic talking. I get that this is the character, but one still needs to be able to understand what they're listening to.
Out of the cast of 5 there were two that stood out for me. This was Charis Murray as Claire and Jamie Patterson as Nick. Charis was extremely naturalistic, grounding her character and giving her a real personality, and an absolute joy to watch and listen to. She interacted well with the other cast members as was always making herself noticeable in the crowd, even when she wasn't a main participant in the scene. Her Scottish twang was calming in an often confusing and complicated mix of scientific jargon and overly long scenes. Jamie Patterson who played the bumbling fool that was Nick also a breath of fresh air. His comedic timing and portrayal of such an idiotic and simple minded man was a joy. Yes a bit over the top, but it was needed. He bought a lightness to an otherwise heavy show, full of moral, scientific and religious themes. These two are as far as I'm concerned already perfectly able to go into more main stream theatre. They know exactly how to fill a stage and realistically portray a character, whilst also having sometimes totally unbelievable or exaggerated characteristics. They absolutely made this show for me, otherwise I would have become slightly uninterested. They were let down by a cast that were otherwise rather monotone in their line delivery along with a lack of realism, which only prolonged the show more. There was a general feeling of the actors feeling slightly uncomfortable with the work and this didn't sit well with me.
I must also mention the lighting. For the majority of the show it was neither good nor bad. It suited the show wonderfully. However this wasn't the case for the start of the show when we as an audience are spoken to be The Guru. I believe Alfie Rackley, the lighting designer, was trying to go for a hippie like feel being almost psychedelic, however it was more confusing and distracting than anything. It seemed like the lights was changing every thirty seconds. Just some soft lighting with maybe a pinkish or bluish glow would have done. I was worried the whole show would be like this, but I had no need to be.
I'd like to say that the ending came out of the blue and was shocking, however that would be untrue. I hadn't predicted it totally correct, but it certainly wasn't a surprise. In no way does this mean the show failed at all, I just like for shows to keep me on my toes and this didn't happen this time. Also the ending seemed rather abrupt. It left questions unanswered and left me more confused than I had been at the start. The writer, Josh King, has a lovely writing style that is realistic and that has a lovely overall flow. This piece may need some extra tweaking for it to be perfect and I'm sure Josh has many good stories up his sleeve. The show has much potential, though I feel it was rather lacking with with production.
The show is running until the 15th September. For tickets and info, click here.
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