Stage: Expertly controlled chaos

 

BriTANicK
by Brian McElhaney, Nick Kocher
dir Alex Edelman
prd Zach Zucker, Allegra Rosenberg
Soho Theatre, London • 27.Feb-4.Mar.23

In one blissfully silly hour, gifted writers and performers Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher take the audience on a hilarious trip into their own obsessions. Their humour is surreal and ridiculous, with meta gags and punchlines that circle around to get funnier each time they reappear. As teens in Atlanta, the duo came up with the name BriTANicK (rhymes with Titanic), which they acknowledge is a mess. Over the last two decades, they have won awards for their show and an Emmy nomination as writers on Saturday Night Live.

A series of contained sketches that feature overlapping themes and repeating jokes, this show builds momentum and energy until it reaches a wonderfully out-of-control crescendo. The duo opens with a quietly witty scene that establishes their personalities, with the thoughtful Brian trying to read a book while the mischievous Nick, playing an unseen ghost, pesters him. Subsequent sketches take them to Old England, where their duel is interrupted by an over-friendly horse, and the Wild West, where they play every role in a crowded saloon.

Along the way, there are many more outrageously inventive moments set, for example, in a memory loss clinic, plus encounters with their personal dreams and nightmares. And they gleefully push boundaries of political correctness. The most insistent running joke is that Nick has taken a vow of celibacy prior to his wedding, which has been delayed by the pandemic. This leaves him desperate for any form of intimacy, either from Brian or frankly anyone in the audience. His amorous yearnings escalate to a frankly brilliant explosion of trousers-around-the-ankles slapstick.

While all of this spirals with a sense of wildly chaotic improvisation, it's impressive how Brian and Nick keep their finely tuned choreography so fresh and even dangerous. After decades working together, the camaraderie between them is hugely engaging, especially when things get physical. Their childlike sense of imagination is infectious, as they play with invisible props and settings in ways that are both goofy and fiendishly clever. And because their connection is so strong, the deeper ideas add a layer of resonance that catches us by surprise, even as we never stop laughing.

For information, SOHO THEATRE >

photos by Sela Shiloni and Stamptown • 27.Feb.23

Stage: Mythmaking

The Walworth Farce
by Edna Walsh
with Dan Skinner, Emmet Byrne, Killian Coyle, Rachelle Diedericks
dir Nicky Allpress
sound and music Joseff Harris
set and costumes Anisha Fields
lighting Lucía Sánchez Roldán
Southwark Playhouse Elephant, London • 17.Feb-18.Mar.23

For its first full-scale production, Southwark Playhouse's new Elephant venue is staging a revival of this absurd 2006 pitch-black comedy, a challenging play that requires a lot of work from the audience. Unfolding as a broad farce inside a bleak drama, there is very little resonance in the characters or interaction, although deeper themes add a meaningful exploration of how society tries to create cohesion by creating myths about the past.

The events take place in a grubby flat located very near the site of the theatre in Elephant & Castle, where Dinny (Skinner) has lived for nearly two decades with his now-adult sons Sean (Byrne) and Blake (Coyle). Each day, they re-enact the series of events that ended with Dinny fleeing from their hometown Cork with the boys. This requires Sean and Blake to take on multiple roles (Blake plays the women), prepare a fateful meal and re-enact a family tragedy. And each day the three vie for a best actor trophy. Then on this this particular day, the routine is interrupted by the arrival of supermarket clerk Hayley (Diedericks), who has taken a shine to Sean during his daily shopping trips. 

This jolting shift doesn't happen until the final moments of the first act, long after the audience has lost the ability to keep up with the incessant, impenetrable high-camp banter, rapid-fire character swapping and gallows humour. The second act propels everything intriguingly off the rails, although continually cycling back into the artifice prevents the narrative from developing proper momentum. Hayley's arrival breaks the routine, allowing Sean to remember what actually happened on that momentous day. But scenes within the scenes keep piling on top of each other.

Through all of this, Dinny insists that the boys accept his version of events, which along with his floppy orange wig adds a whiff of proto-Trumpian nastiness. Clearly written as an allegory within a fantasy, it's frustrating that there are so few points at which the audience can identify with anyone on-stage. This means that a couple of potential emotional kicks are badly weakened, and the only thing we take away is a vaguely intellectual consideration of how the truth will eventually conquer lies.

That said, the cast is excellent, fully inhabiting characters with a terrific sense of internalised detail, with Byrne and Coyle particularly impressive as they dive into several lively roles each. They do this with such skill that it kind of undercuts the frequent comments about how sheltered and naive Sean and Blake are supposed to be. Skinner holds the centre with ruthless charisma, while Diedericks gets to react more realistically, even if her character is rather disturbingly sidelined. Meanwhile, the technical production is first-rate, with exceptional sets, costumes, lighting and sound.

Aside from the story's local setting, it's bewildering why such a grim and ultimately unsatisfying play would be chosen to launch a new venue. Perhaps it's a bold statement that we should expect anything here. Indeed, it's a great space. So it's frustrating that the theatre's design is rather awkward, with industrial-style railings that obliterate the view from the balcony, requiring lots of uncomfortable shifting in seats to see anything happening down below.

For information: SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE >

photos by David Jensen • 24.Feb.23

Critical Week: The stars came out

Sunday was the 76th Bafta Film Awards, with a new venue at the Royal Festival Hall and a new host in the charmingly British Richard E Grant (with contributions from a lively but distracting Allison Hammond). It was a star-packed event, with a glittering audience of nominees and special guests, which allowed for the usual offbeat presenting duos (Eugene Levy with Cynthia Erivo?). Among the winners, the biggest surprise was Austin Butler being named Best Actor, which bodes well for Oscar night. And Barry Keoghan was a popular surprise winner for Supporting Actor, although perhaps Ke Huy Quan has the edge for Oscar. And then there was All Quiet on the Western Front with its unprecedented seven huge wins, including film and director over Tár and Everything Everywhere All at Once, top nominees that had to settle for just one prize each. But the issue of inclusivity still needs to be discussed, when awards like these (and the London Critics' Circle) opt for overwhelmingly white winners even with a superbly diverse set of nominees.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Joyland • Broker • Juniper
ALL REVIEWS >

As for the movies I've been watching, the biggest one was a very late press screening of Elizabeth Banks' crazed action thriller Cocaine Bear, a riotously grisly throwback to '80s nature-gone-wild mayhem movies. It took me awhile to catch up with Hirokazu Kore-eda's Broker, another wonderfully humane drama that sympathises with people on the moral fringes. How to Blow Up a Pipeline is an entertaining caper adventure about a group of young people taking on Big Oil. The twisty antics kind of overshadow the serious themes, but it's good fun. From Argentina, Wandering Heart is a superbly naturalistic drama about a man trying to pull himself together after a breakup. And the Oscar-nominated doc A House Made of Splinters highlights a situation in war-torn Ukraine with a hugely resonant kick.

This coming week I'll be watching Michael B Jordan's Creed III, Lily James in What's Love Got to Do With It, Michael Shannon in A Little White Lie, the Aussie drama Lonesome and the French drama Love According to Dalva, plus a couple of theatre shows.

Stage: We can be heroes

Jordan Gray: Is It a Bird?
Soho Theatre, London • 16-18.Feb.23

Having won a series of awards, and even performing it live on television, Jordan Gray brings her already-iconic one-woman odyssey Is It a Bird back to the Soho Theatre for three intimate nights of comedy and song. Gray's kinetic physicality and rapid-fire humour are intelligent and consistently hilarious. And her songs are even funnier. With her Essex accent and a mix of riotous chaos and brainy observations, she's instantly reminiscent of Russell Brand, something she acknowledges with a throwaway gag. But her material carries a personal kick that is wonderfully devastating.

The stage is simple: a keyboard and a cardboard red phone box. Gray never stops moving, skittering around the space cracking jokes while playfully interacting with the front rows. The whole performance feels improvised and enjoyably out of control, but it's far too well-shaped for that to be completely true. Even when she's playing the keyboard, she can't sit still, pivoting from side to side or performing an acrobatic pirouette. And she never misses a beat with her astute commentary, which all circles back to her personal life as a trans woman. It's a barrage of outrageously witty one-liners that reveal layer after layer of meaning. 

Yes, everything Gray says and does has a point. The title refers to how people (and one glorious dog) react to her transgendered physicality, and it also reflects how she sees herself as a superhero. Although the one she dives into here is Batman, someone with no supernatural powers whom people accept even if he identifies as a bat. While poking fun at pop culture, she boldly attacks contentious material with a cheeky grin, calling out the audience's hypocrisy in reactions to a joke about Hitler, a song about Jesus or general attitudes towards trans people.

There isn't a wasted line in this hour-long performance; Gray is so sharp and smart that she forces the audience to keep up with her energy levels, pulling us in before lowering the boom. So when she emerges from the phonebooth as a superhero, she is completely naked. This isn't remotely gratuitous, as it's the ultimate provocation in that it really shouldn't be provocative at all. And as she sings her final song, our laughter is choked with an emotional response. "If I'm going to be the joke," she sings, "I might as well be in on it." But Jordan Gray is no joke: she's a brilliant entertainer who deserves to fly very high indeed.

photos by Dylan Woodley • 16.Feb.23

Critical Week: A walk in the park

London's cinema community is gearing up for this Sunday's British Academy Film Awards, which will be hosted by Richard E Grant at the Royal Festival Hall with all the stars in attendance. And this year the Baftas will air some of the awards live (but only a handful). I'll watch it at home, but I'm attending a few parties over the weekend, which should be fun ... and rather glamorous. More about all that on Monday, after the dust settles.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Inspection • Framing Agnes
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
PERHAPS AVOID:
Devil's Peak
ALL REVIEWS >

Meanwhile, we're starting to see movies released early in the year, far from awards consideration. Sharper is a thriller about con artists, so it's no surprise that it's packed with twists, turns and revelations. All of that is fun, even if it's a bit predictable, but it helps that the film stars Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan and (above) Briana Middleton and Justice Smith. Also sticking to the formula is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the latest slice of Marvel mayhem. The action largely swamps Paul Rudd's superb sense of humour, but the film does have its moments, and Jonathan Majors is seriously good as the villainous Kang. And then there's Devil's Peak, a backwoods thriller that sinks completely under the weight of its cliches, even as strong actors like Billy Bob Thornton and Robin Wright do what they can.

A little further afield, 88 is a political thriller with a nicely complex plot, although the dialog is overstuffed with lectures. From Italy, Nostalgia is an involving drama about a man trying to return home even as his past warns him to leave. From Spain, 8 Years artfully mixes colourful energy with thoughtful emotion as a man ponders the good and bad in a broken relationship. Chase Joynt's astonishingly inventive doc Framing Agnes works on many levels to explore trans experiences and social justice. And Gaspar Noe has rearranged his shocking 2002 classic as Irreversible: Straight Cut, which becomes something very different chronologically.

In addition to British Academy Film Awards events this weekend, this coming week I'll see the nutty thriller Cocaine Bear, Michael Shannon in A Little White Lie, Kore-eda's drama Broker, the Argentine drama Wandering Heart and the climate activism thriller How to Blow Up a Pipeline.

Stage: The knife-edge of hoarding

Breathless
by Laura Horton
with Madeleine MacMahon
dir Stephanie Kempson
prd Ben Lyon-Ross
lighting Natasha Whitley
composer Ellie Showering
Soho Theatre, London • 7-18.Feb.23

Subtitled A True Life Story of the Knife-Edge of Hoarding, this one-woman show bristles with details that will resonate with anyone who places value on the things they collect around them. Written by Plymouth's Laureate of Words Laura Horton, it's an astute collection of sharp comedy and earthy emotions, touching on wider themes about insecurities and connections.

Pushing 40, Sophie (MacMahon) has just begun seeing Jo, the first woman she has dated after years of relationships with men. And she begins to see a future with Jo, who is patient, honest and kind to her. But Sophie is hiding a secret: she won't let anyone come to her flat because it is overflowing with designer clothing she has bought at charity shops and sample sales. Not everything fits her, but each piece offers an indefinable sense of comfort, revealing what she calls "versions of me" that once were, are now or are to come. 

As Sophie narrates her story, she cycles back to anecdotes from her childhood and young adulthood. Cleverly, these never try to explain why she hoards so much clothing; instead they offer glimpses into her emotional life, her sharp sense of humour and an undercurrent of irony in how she sees the world around her. Then as she gets to know Jo, there are other issues, including the horror at Jo's minimalistic home, in which she can see only three pairs of shoes. But while she worries that Jo will reject her if she learns the truth, she begins to confront her obsession.

MacMahon connects immediately with the audience, using focussed eye contact and a confessional attitude to make the show feel almost unnervingly intimate. The stage consists of a chair and racks of garment bags, which MacMahon uses to provide elements of grounded realism in an abstract environment. Lighting and an inventive sound mix extend this effect, pulling the viewer right into Sophie's mental process without ever being voyeuristic. Without trying to make us understand Sophie, the show helps us sympathise and, more importantly, see her for who she is. Not only does this change our perspective on hoarders, but it helps us embrace the hoarder with in us and perhaps find a way to live with this is a healthier way.

For details: SOHO THEATRE >

photos by Christopher Vaughan • 8.Feb.23

Critical Week: Starry starry night

Organising an event like the 43rd London Critics' Circle Film Awards, which took place on Sunday at The May Fair Hotel, takes me about seven months. Although since this was the first in-person ceremony in three years, the process felt a bit steeper this year. The main challenge was sourcing new sponsors as, aside from our wonderful venue sponsor, we had to start from scratch. But our organising committee came together and brought in a group of terrific partners who we hope to work with in years to come. And with our event in the middle of both Bafta and Oscar voting periods, the stars turned out to celebrate. It was a fantastic night. For more photos, see the Insta posts below. And there's also a full list of winners...

Of course working on this has meant skipping quite a few films, so I've only seen a few over the last two weeks. Magic Mike's Last Dance with Channing Tatum and Salma Hayek is enjoyable for what it is but frustrating for what it could have been. The Locksmith with Ryan Phillippe and Kate Bosworth is such an overfamiliar crime thriller that watching it is almost enjoyably relaxing. From Italy, Amanda is a bracingly original portrait of a prickly but endearing slacker. And the indie drama The Way Out has a fascinating edge that kind of vanishes into a genre thriller. I also revisited Baz Luhrmann's Elvis because it was a chance to see it again on a big screen, with an added one-hour Q&A with Austin Butler that was strikingly intimate.

This coming week I'll be watching Paul Rudd in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Alexander Skarsgard in Infinity Pool, Paul Mescal in God's Creatures, Alison Brie in Somebody I Used to Know and the Italian drama Nostalgia.

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43rd LONDON CRITICS’ CIRCLE FILM AWARDS
Full list of winners • 5th February 2023, The May Fair Hotel

FILM OF THE YEAR
Tár

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR (tie)
Decision to Leave
The Quiet Girl (An Cailín Ciúin)

DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

The Attenborough Award:
BRITISH/IRISH FILM OF THE YEAR
The Banshees of Inisherin

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR sponsored by The House of Koko
Todd Field - Tár

SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Martin McDonagh - The Banshees of Inisherin

ACTRESS OF THE YEAR sponsored by Nyman Libson Paul
Cate Blanchett - Tár

ACTOR OF THE YEAR sponsored by The House of Koko
Colin Farrell - The Banshees of Inisherin

SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Kerry Condon - The Banshees of Inisherin

SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Barry Keoghan - The Banshees of Inisherin

BRITISH/IRISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR for body of work
Florence Pugh - Don't Worry Darling, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Wonder 

BRITISH/IRISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR for body of work
Bill Nighy - Living

The Philip French Award:
BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH/IRISH FILMMAKER sponsored by MetFilm
Charlotte Wells - Aftersun

YOUNG BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER
Frankie Corio - Aftersun

BRITISH/IRISH SHORT FILM OF THE YEAR
A Fox in the Night - dir Keeran Anwar Blessie

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio - Guillermo del Toro and Brian Leif Hansen, animation

DILYS POWELL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM
Michelle Yeoh