“Brilliant night to get you out the gaff, as Bentley welcomes you into her cleverly crafted characters of the Caff.”
A mug of tea, squirty ketchup, salt, vinegar and a very talented Emma Bentley. the supermodel in the caff strives and succeeds in portraying neat characterisations of four women of varying class, backgrounds and dreams, whilst simultaneously sharing one desire- to be heard.
And hear them we do. With spot-on lighting and technical mastering from Stella Kailides, choosing to perform in the round, a less common staging preference, enabled a sense of community from the off, as Bentley greets audience members with a ‘how do you like your eggs?’ charm. Where the sound effects were spot on, I believe the atmosphere Bentley had already established, alongside her continuous acknowledgment of the audience, was performatively enough and perhaps the noisy cafe background music wasn’t needed afterall. A salt and pepper shaker by the audiences seat side, and I reckon we could be the busy caff for her!
Bentley depicts four key women in the play, taking turns to explain their being in the caff. An insecure, likable young woman (Nessa), a homeless lady (Janey), a waiter (Ellen) and the supermodel herself (Bea). Benltey cleverly intertwines the characters existence in the same space. Notably, the researched renditions of Nessa, Janey and Bea were greatly accurate. The use of movement and body language felt very well studied and made the characters entirely believable. Where Ellen was also performed hilariously, the character seemed to struggle to fit as smoothly into Bentley’s worldmaking. The transitions between the characters, where Bently would change in the corner of the room, hidden from the audience, worked to aid the established Brechtian take on the performance. However, these moments of transition seemed to interrupt the flow and I wonder if they were made an inherent part of the performance, perhaps performed in the middle of the stage, it would have aided a strong demonstration of interconnectivity between the characters stories.
Nevertheless as a one-woman play, Bentleys attention to mannerisms, cultural and current references were cleanly performed. Where Bentley could have pushed the ending to leave the audience pondering considerations further than the women we met, the utilisation of props, bisexual lighting (pink + blue) was spot on. I look forward to seeing how the piece develops further- what a night at the caff.