Category: Star Rating

Tolu, Debz, Reena and Tia are the ‘Back of the Bus Queens.’ In this impressive piece, they take us on a nostalgic trip down memory lane, memorializing the experience of being a young black girl in South London in the 90s. This kaleidoscope of a play is full of song, dance, incredible athleticism, reminiscence, mind-blowing coordination, and overarchingly, astonishing performances. 

Writer and director dkfash did a phenomenal job coordinating this piece. Is Dat U Yh is beyond intricate and multifaceted, layering audio-visual details into the dialogue, movement that seems so natural it is incredible to know to it to be choreographed. Is Dat U Yh subverts expectations in every way it could. At no point is it possible to know what will happen next, but rest assured, it will be wonderful. The highs and lows of the characters’ lives are highlighted, jumping between space and time, physical theatre and monologues. The set pieces were transformed into an array of distinct places: the back of the bus, a park, various points throughout the city, a bedroom, and much more. Moreover, dkfash not only created characters that were specific and unique, but were simultaneously relatable. The actors were given the room to infuse their own experiences into that of the characters’ lives. 

The cast, made up of Adeola Yemitan, Antonia Layiwola, Rachael Ridley and Zakiyyah Deen, give astonishing performances. They move with lightning speed, physically exerting and exceptional amount of energy but somehow always remaining ready to launch into the next scene. The aspects physical theatre implemented were a remarkable feat to witness. They flow effortlessly between each other, zigzagging throughout the stage, not a fumble in sight. The exacting coordination of their dialogue made for scenes that moved quickly but kept you moving along with them. No matter how fast the pace, the audience was at no point left behind. The cast consistently kept us in mind, leading us down through the speedy road of 90s nostalgia. 

Sound designer Xana and lighting designer Jahmiko Marshall displayed excellent skill and creativity in their respective fields. Sound and lighting are an integral part of Is Dat U Yh, functioning as a piece of the narrative itself. It is sound and lighting that move the cast from one place to the next, that add colour to the stories. The minds of Tolu, Debz, Reena and Tia are rich and vibrant. Xana and Jahmiko Marshall’s work allowed for that vibrancy to be seen by all viewers. 

Is Dat U Yh leaves the audience laughing, cheering, screaming in delight, and maybe tearing up just a little bit.

Slàinte! Theatre is a Scottish and Irish Theatre Company based in London with the aim to champion Scottish and Irish creatives, giving them a platform to be seen and heard. Their newest contribution to London’s theatrical landscape is Shepherd’s Warning by Kari Hall. 

Set in a dystopian-esc Edinburgh, Shepherd’s Warning follows the story of three siblings, whose lives were torn apart after they entered the failing care system when their mother was deemed unfit to look after them, due to neglect caused by drug addiction. The play opens at their real mother’s funeral where siblings, Cass (Kari Hall) and David (Ross Barbour) are reunited for the first time in years. Cass is about to go off to Uni and David is making ends meet dealing drugs. We soon find out that there is a third sibling, Beth (Elle O’Hara), whom they manage to track down at the company she works at. This makes for an interesting interaction, as the audience have already met Fraser (Hamish Somers) (Bethany’s husband) as he buys from David, unbeknown to his wife. Bethany and Fraser have it all – the nice house, the good job – however Bethany’s past coming back to haunt her all at once puts a major strain on their relationship. The play goes through the triumphs and tribulations of adult sibling relationships, all whilst being unable to escape an unavoidable truth going on around them – the planet is getting hotter, the Maldives have disappeared, and the planet isn’t showing any sign of stopping and reversing the damage. 

The play takes a shift, when environmentally aware Cass ends up accepting a job at Fraser and Bethany’s company (an oil company) thinking she can make a change from the inside, whilst David has turned to Social Media to voice his anger at the climate crisis to the masses. Tensions come to a boiling point, when Cass finds out Fraser has been lying to her about the project they’ve been working on, and Arthur’s seat – a long extinct volcano – erupts causing death and destruction in Scotland. But of course, the oil company had plans in place, and Frazer tries to convince Bethany and their newborn to come with him on a flight to escape. Classically, the rich and powerful have an opportunity of a new life, leaving behind those less fortunate to suffer. Bethany decides to stay with her siblings, and Frazer escapes to freedom with their newborn baby. 

Shepherd’s Warning covers a lot of heavy themes, all with an excellent Scottish wit and humour. The play has a very complex and winding plot line, ensuring the audience never knows what is going to happen next. The dialogue is well written, fast paced and drops in just enough humour to keep the audience locked in. 

The performances across the board were very strong. Kari Hall’s, Cassie, was feisty, fiery and impassioned, and they had a real presence and tenacity to their performance. Ross Barbour delivered a fantastically raw performance, and brought superb comic timing with his portrayal of David. 

Overall, Shepherd’s Warning is a very engaging piece of work. It covers a lot of mammoth topics and themes, and as much as that makes for an interesting watch, I would consider sifting through, and seeing if there are any plot-lines that could be simplified, in order to let certain moments breathe for a bit longer. With strong performances all round, I would recommend this show. It has an important message at its core, and manages to encapsulate so many.

After a run at Edinburgh Fringe in 2023, In Everglade Studio is enjoying a short run at the Hope Theatre in April 2024. Written by Nathaniel Brimmer-Beller, and Co-Directed by Brimmer-Beller and Phoebe Rowell John. 

Set in 1974, In Everglade Studio is about four people who come together over a single night in a recording studio in London with the goal of creating a whole record’s worth of hits in a single evening, unaware that the materials in the walls of the basement studio are toxic, and driving them to insanity. The audience is informed of this by a brief audio track of a future documentary that plays to the room, suggesting bizarre and tragic events of the night we’re about to watch. 

Skye (Emily Moment) is a white English artist heavily influenced by American country music, brought to the studio by mixed-race music producer Clarke (Nathaniel Brimmer-Beller), alongside white session musician Baron, (Aveev Isaacson, possibly donning a scouse accent). The trio are shortly joined by Matilda (Hannah Omisore), a young black woman, invited by Clarke to provide creative input onto Skye’s music. Racism is core to the tension that drives the plot. As the chemicals in the walls seep into our characters minds, Skye’s non-racist facade begins to fade, and aggression evolves in baby steps away from passive and becomes more direct. The play is enthralling as we watch the drama unfold and the relationships deteriorate. 

Emily Moment portrays the slow descent from arrogant musician into something more sinister superbly well, through dirty looks, body language, and subtly barbed verbal jabs, there’s always a slight ambiguity to what’s going on in Skye’s head right up until the mask falls and shatters onto the ground. Opposite Moment, Omisore well encapsulates a shy, unassuming, almost meek Matilda, who doesn’t quite know how to own the talent she possesses because of the place society has put her as a black woman. Omisore then transitions the performance brilliantly into what is first strength in the face of adversity, then into a retaliatory madness as we reach the climax. Brimmer-Beller puts in a solid performance as Clarke, a man putting his desire to make money from the night in the studio ahead of his personal feelings on racism, though this was perhaps slightly undercooked, the extent of his internal conflict (or lack of) on this matter could have been developed more. Isaacson’s Baron serves as a mild foil to Skye, and provides quips of comic relief, and is performed well by Isaacson. 

Music is a key feature of In Everglade Studio, with whole songs performed intermittently during the play, though this was done as part of the plot as the cast were recording songs in the studio, rather than how a musical might see its cast break out suddenly into a number. The songs throughout are excellently written and composed by Brimmer-Beller and Isaacson, and well performed live on stage by the whole cast. They were smartly used to convey mood, or allowed the cast to use expression and movement to suggest the current state of relationships to the audience. The only critique that they were sometimes a bit long, and would slow the pacing, particularly early on in the performance. 

In Everglade Studio finishes in an unrecognisable place from how it begins, owing to the characters going insane, and exacerbated by the tensions of not really liking each other that much to begin with. The journey the characters go on over the fateful night is thoroughly entertaining, gently funny at times, but predominantly satisfying for a uniquely chaotic spin on a victim of racism overcoming the attitudes they’re faced with that seek to bring them down.