Festival Director: Amy Tickner
Act II, a festival of half-hour plays involving 11 writers and 10 directors, and 44 young actors, hits the boards at The Space Theatre on the Isle of Dogs.
Three years ago, Amy Tickner a student at UCL, founded the Act II Festival, intending to ‘bridge the gap between London’s student theatre and the industry’. She invited writers and directors from further education institutions in London, paired them up, and arranged casting sessions from among would-be actors in establishments of further education. Tickner welds together 20 or so of these ad hoc companies, rehearses them for six weeks, and then puts on The Act II Festival, to show-case the pieces. This year, after two years under Covid restrictions and rehearsals and performances on Zoom, the festival has gone live on two successive Sundays at The Space Theatre.
Tickner wants to move people slightly out of their comfort-zones. She believes that forming a new ensemble to address a new play is more akin to what the participants will meet if they progress in the theatre industry, and whether or not that’s correct, it certainly produces fresh and lively situations on stage. It forces performers to use their acting resources rather than relying on friendships, and that helps some of the actors to shine. It may encourage others to hide behind the scenery, but maybe it’s as well to find that out early on.
Of the eight shows under review, there’s a trend towards writers exploring relationships, exploring the frustrations of being unheard, exploring (and this may be an increasingly significant topic) gender identity. A lot of the writing is raw and a lot of the performances are heartfelt. There isn’t much nuance: lots of the speech is too quiet and first-time directors like putting actors on the stage floor when the platform was only six inches high, so the front row of seats masks much of the acting, and the lighting cues are all over the place.
What there is, is sincere effort, interesting new voices, the beginnings of careers as writers and performers. The quick turnover, lack of sets, and unfamiliarity with their casts make the new directors’ tasks very tough, and there is a consequent lack of detail and precision, and some deeply unfortunate blocking. But it is early days for all involved.
In Tom Higgins’ piece Seasons, Katherine McNally and Taneetrah Porter stand out. Dominic Conneely Hughes’ play Dreamliner showed a lot of ambition, and is enlivened by a bold, energetic cameo from Sam Law. Dreamliner is going on to appear in The Homecoming Festival at Kennington’s White Bear Theatre, 26th-30th April. The point of the Act II Festival is to give participants a jump-start, and moving out of the sphere of student drama onto a slightly bigger stage is proof of the value of Tickner’s artistic vision.
Reviewed on 17 April 2022
