“A well realised aesthetic vision overcrowds the show’s insightful narrative”
A woman looking for her missing uncle stumbles upon a strange hotel run by witches—welcome to The Boline Inn. It’s a cool premise, and the periodic eighties setting is a fun addition, allowing it to be soundtracked by a mix of live folk songs and Madonna. There’s a lot of whimsy in this play, paired with an interesting storyline which could make it something that really appeals to a specific audience. Like many of the films of its eighties setting, it has the ornaments of a cult classic itself. With some work on the clarity of the narrative, the show could really have the potential to reach this kind of appeal.
The design of the play is all-round wonderful to look at, especially considering the smallness of the space. The decor on the walls was intricate and brought the atmosphere of the room alive. There was some fabulous use of materials, which made for a spectacular display when assisted by some great lighting choices. The costuming too was impressive and fashionable without feeling out of place. There was clearly a very strong aesthetic put together for the play. The concept is rich and fun. However, it felt sometimes, as though the visual element of the play preceded the plot.
Many of its key plot points felt missed by the dialogic cluster of very varied language uses. Regional variation is definitely an addition to the show, but it felt as though some of them were speaking from different time periods, which felt inconsistent at times. If this was the intention, it’s definitely an interesting one, but the challenge of being able to communicate a narrative through such varied uses of language requires some serious precision. If the script was edited with a little more of this in mind, I think it could make for a really attentive story.
Whilst the set was very appealing, the space itself often felt misused. Having the audience sat on diagonals to the stage made the room feel larger, but also meant the space itself was more limited. A gap between the audience also was not big enough to accommodate the actors walking through it, and made for a slightly uncomfortable viewing experience for some of the audience members who were sat close to it. Discomfort is fine, sometimes brilliant, if used productively, but this felt like more of an oversight and something that could have been solved by either widening the gap or just using offstage space. On stage, there was an odd scene change where a table is slightly tilted to signify something, though what this signified I could not decipher. Keeping it static would have felt more appropriate, or its movement could have been more seamless if done during blackouts.
The cast were distinct in their performances, and you could tell they had a real love and understanding of their characters. Notably, Marley Craze was commanding with her performance of Betty, and Grace Mia Harvey and Natasha Jobst brought a humorous chemistry as the duo Val and Caroline respectively. Sometimes the characters leant a little on regional stereotypes, never particularly offensive, just a little bit lacking in consideration. With the limited space though, a lot of scenes involved having them all on stage, making the space a bit crowded. Cutting down some of the appearances of the cast, perhaps even the cast number itself, would help with the show’s clarity.
The Boline Inn was an enjoyable watch, clearly with a strong vision. The storyline it offers has some good twists and insightful societal observations—they just get a little lost in the crowd. It would be fantastic to see this fleshed out a little further, making clear exactly what has brought each of the characters to the Inn, and why we too should come in.