Writers: Dan O’Brien and Emily Jenkins
Directors: Jo Gatford and Sam Chittenden
Assistant Director: Faith McNeill
A charming, thought-provoking and darkly humorous double bill from Brighton Little Theatre.
Showcasing characters wrestling with despair, these performances dance between humour and deeply poignant moments. Although both offer a very different approach to dark comedy, these two short plays complement each other well and create the overall experience of a brilliant evening of theatre.
It is always a joy to visit Brighton Little Theatre. 85 years of performances plaster its compact walls so you already feel part of the drama before you have even taken your seat. The theatre may be small but the shows here promise a punch, and tonight is no exception.
The Voyage of the Carcass takes us on a delightful excursion into the theatre of the absurd. This darkly comic tale raises some intriguing questions about polar exploration in the early part of the 20th Century. In its eccentric way, it pays homage to the likes of Ernest Shackleton, Captain Oates and Robert Falcon Scott, while still making polar exploration seem like a ridiculous endeavour. The crew of the unfortunately named Carcass were trying to sail to the North Pole when their ship got stuck in ice. We are led to believe they have been there for seven years slowly eating each other, but as the play progresses we start to suspect there is more to the story.
James Bennison exuberantly plays their vain and delusional captain, Bane Barrington. Bennison is a force, carrying the brunt of the dialogue and the story. Bane diligently records events in his journal, while his shipmates Chaplain Kane (Esther Dracott) and the mysterious First Mate Izzie (Samuel Masters), attempt to support their master’s endeavours and sporadic whims.
Physical comedy and word-play ensue but there are some more welcome poignant moments later in the play when Barrington (Bennison) has the epiphany that he has wasted his life, when Eliza (Dracott) reflects on what it means to be truly loved, and when Izzie (Masters) finds himself alone in the snow. Although the ending of the play may feel a little jarring, with time for it to sink in, it makes for a thoughtful reassessment of what has come before and acts to strengthen the piece.
After the interval, comes the extraordinary performance that is Bobby & Amy. This exceptionally moving piece of theatre takes you on a joy ride through a rural farming community during the late nineties. Despite being a period piece, there’s a freshness to the way the story is delivered. Writer Emily Jenkins authentically captures the era using quick fire dialogue spliced with a deeply satisfying number of references to 90s youth culture.
Izzy Boreham and Jimmy Schofield expertly play Amy and Bobby respectively, but on top of their central role they also play a staggering cross section of the community. These two highly skilled actors make the seemingly impossible look effortless as they leap between characters and flow through descriptions of landscapes. There’s a strong poetic sense to the play, coupled with the energy of a vibrant 90s sketch show, but it all sits around a very moving central story of two friends brought together by their flight from school bullies and challenging family situations.
Amidst the laughter to be found in characters like the Goats, a group of mean girls that includes Stacy who can barely drag herself away from feeding her tamagotchi to effectively bully, there are even more sinister adults like Uncle Ryan and Bobby’s menacing “daddy”. This world is not a safe place for naïve, sensitive souls but Amy (Boreham) and Bobby (Schofield) manage to find pockets of it where they can survive. Their attachment to calf Abigail is painfully severed with the coming of the foot-and-mouth disease crisis. For those who remember the images of piles of burning cows, it plummets us into those fires, while for those who don’t, it still paints a vivid picture of the horror.
This is an outstanding piece of theatre that takes us on a darkly comic and incredibly emotional journey through the destruction of a community. The authenticity of the writing and the extraordinary acting from Boreham and Schofield makes this an absolute must see. Coupled with The Voyage of the Carcass, this is a night at the theatre that will leave you buzzing.
Runs until 1st February 2025
The Reviews Hub Score
Charming, thought provoking and darkly humorous