|
 The Humorously Heart-Wrenching Production at the Tower Theatre
On Thursday November 25th the Tower Theatre Company debuted their production of Caryl Churchill's Escaped Alone. A play that originally came out in 2016, which I knew very little about until I was asked to write a review for the Tower Theatre. Now that I have seen this play I am grateful for my ignorance, because it made seeing the play for the first time all that more enjoyable; I was simultaneously amused and moved by this short but brilliantly told narrative.
 Escaped Alone tells us the story of three friends and an acquaintance, who is travelling through while they are sharing an afternoon of tea, and how they cope in a post-apocalyptic world by taking comfort in each other's company. Churchill cleverly depicts our ability as people to seemingly chat about nothing, from television shows to passing mentions of relatives; all the while using these irrelevant topics to deal with the terrible trauma each of them has faced in the wake of a global pandemic.
 Given the subject matter and what we have all experienced over the past two years the first thing that came to mind, was that this play felt disturbingly relatable. The character of Mrs Jarrett (played by Rosanna Preston) separates herself from the conversation and breaks the fourth wall to describe the horrors leading up to the apocalypse. From a virus that spread its way from country to country, children dying, feral cats falling from the sky and lack of resources to the point of people only being able to see food on the television. A horrible idea of the future, which plays on our recent fears of this potentially being the fate of our deteriorating world.
 However, the true brilliance of Churchill's play is the satirical humour that keeps pulling us back from complete despair, when each character has a moment of facing the true horrors of their trauma they are immediately able to find solace by prattling on about how things once were; the shops that have since closed down, their careers which no longer exist, relatives who are good at baking, just to name a few nuggets of comfort. Not forgetting the silly jokes they make, sometimes at each other's expense, as well as one surprisingly wholesome moment where all four women get lost in a rendition of Stand By Me. I found it to be the most surprising moment and each member of the audience was drawn in by seeing each character, even for the briefest of minutes, genuinely get lost in each other's company and forgetting the experiences that haunt their existence. As the mood changed with each topic of conversation, we were able to feel the gravity of what each character felt at the time. Our emotions were being manipulated and it meant that in this short journey I grew to care about everyone on stage.
 Because this was so enjoyable I would like to mention a specific contribution each actor made to their performance. Alison Liney took on the role of Lena. When she discussed the feeling of hopelessness during her monologue, her delivery of the line ‘‘I'd rather hear something bad than something good. It's all the same!'' the frustration in her voice made that one sentence hit close to home. It perfectly summed up that moment too many of us have felt since 2019; where no matter how far we have come since the initial impact of the pandemic, we get weighed down by the idea of things never being ‘completely normal' ever again. This was just one example where we were able to empathise with the character's turmoil.
 The character of Sally was played by Vyvian Shaw, and her ability to effectively portray someone suffering from post-traumatic-stress-disorder is something that should be acknowledged. The character had a non-specified incident with a feral cat, something that has made even the word “cat” terrifying. What I loved was that when the memories began coming back, her actions were not over the top or cartoonish in any way. Instead, you saw her go through stages of being forced to acknowledge the incident; first there's nervous stumbling over her words, the distress seeping its way onto her face, and then she crumbles into herself, her body becoming more rigid as she tried to block away those bad thoughts. Finally, followed the expression of relief on her face when her friends offered her a lifeline; this made me feel a genuine sense of relief on her behalf.
 While Jacquie Cassidy's Vi had a lot to say in terms of her past hardships, what I enjoyed most was her ability to speak volumes with simply her actions. When Mrs Jarrett contributes to their conversation Vi gives her these subtle looks, which show a slightly bemused fear that this virtual stranger has entered their little bubble of escapism. It demonstrated how important this group is, because of course they will invite someone in need to join them. However, there will be a bit of unease since they do not know how detached this other person is from their reality, and whether her presence will bring all past trauma to the surface. Then there is the moment after they sing together, where Vi waves for Mrs Jarrett to move closer to the group. That moment shows a small development in Vi's character as she realises they are all just as lost in how to deal with their suffering. Constantly throughout the play I found myself looking over at Vi to see if I missed any more of her emotive glances or gestures.
 Similarly, Rosanna Preston did an excellent job in taking full advantage of the space. Her initial place of being slightly removed from the group, shows her equally apprehensive attitude in spending time with these people. When the song starts she goes straight to the other side and stands next to Lena, before moving into the space behind all three women, helping herself to a biscuit, then taking a spot closer to the group. Something about the way she moved so at ease within the group during the song, drove home how pure that fleeting moment of pure happiness meant to the character, which was especially beneficial as she had not had a monologue relating to her own feelings at this point.
 As much as I hate to admit this, my only issue with Escaped Alone is that I am struggling to find fault with this production. As someone who loves to criticise their favourite films, books and plays, it is somewhat frustrating to find myself liking everything about the play. Some may say it is too short, however I would argue that being just under an hour was the perfect amount of time because we got a clear picture of each character, without unnecessarily dragging on the plot. Truthfully it leaves a slightly bitter taste in my mouth to not have anything negative to say about the show, but this is because I like my reviews to be fair and if I'm going to be fair I have to be honest about what I saw on stage.
The set was well put together, with hilarious references to moments discussed in the play, such as a bottle of cat spray at the far left of the stage. The acting was phenomenal, with each actor being able to play off one another well and having effortless chemistry. I would conclude this review by saying that whether you want to interpret Churchill's work as a satirical comment on our ability to ignore our problems through escapism, or a positive look on our ability to be resilient in times of tragedy, this is a play that audiences will be talking about for weeks after attending.
For me this play was a rare perfect blend of clever humour mixed with a deeply thought provoking subject matter, which I credit to the high standards of acting talent and production work I've come to enjoy at the Tower Theatre.
Photography by Robert Piwko
|
