Writer and Director: Andrew Muir
Ardent Theatre Company aims to support emerging new actors from outside London who face financial or geographical barriers to pursuing their careers. The latest production Beyond Ourselves tackles the experiences of these young actors head-on in a sometimes bizarre and surreal way.
A creative director, played by Jacob Rayner Blair, has taken over an empty space with the intention of creating something, anything, and has invited a group of recent performing arts students to come with him on this creative journey.
None of the characters in this play have names, but as in the much referenced and currently pertinent Friends, each of the characters soon shows their distinctive character, the cynical one, the Irish one, the singing one, the straight acting one and the one who just wants to be on EastEnders. The character of each student is quickly developed to superb comic effect with clever and witty dialogue (OK, Samuel Beckett is referenced too!).
As Blair’s character has an idea in his head but not much else, these fledgling actors have little to work with. putting them ill at ease and rather taken aback by their mission, especially that played by Thoma O’Neil, the stand-out character in this. Because of his cynicism and his scepticism with the process, he gets the best lines and laughs.
The characters create their space; a bar, a sofa, an open mic and a piano (Friends wins over Beckett). They ask existential questions about the meaning of theatre, does creativity have to have an audience? And when the EastEnders one, India Pignatiello, turns up late, is everyone secure in their perceived place?
Over the hour and 15 minutes, we learn a little of the back stories and an insight into the current difficulties faced by these wannabe actors as the real-world clashes with their aspirations. These range from general – such as getting pronouns correct and actors priorities – to those directly affecting aspiring young actors, such as not being able to afford the rail fare to get to auditions or working in poorly paid jobs that they don’t even want to do despite having a creative degree and still not making ends meet.
However, these backstories sadly lack depth, they just seem to exist in the moment, issues touched on such as the everyday racism aimed at Danielle Laurence’s character made to feel rather tokenistic. There is good writing here, and it is noble to reference the actual problems faced in the real world by the cast, but it requires more character development and drama.
The show climaxes with a catchy musical number on the industry, showing off the talent and fondness of Eddie Drummond for musical theatre, to which the whole ensemble joins for a rousing finale. But it comes too late to make this a recommendable piece of theatre outside those who work, and struggle, in this profession.
Runs until 12 November 2023
