monolog 4 – Chickenshed Theatre

Writers: Cathy Jansen-Riding, Matthew Patenall, Gill Paternall, Sebastian Ross, Hannah Smith, Sophie White, Rebecaa Hardy, Lucy Dobson and Sara Chernaik

Directors: Arden Ridings, Alexandre Murtinheira, Sabina Bissett, Malita Brooke, Elia Criscuoli, Ashley Driver and Peter Dowse

The monologue has been proving its versatility in the last 12 months, providing a vital outlet for writers and performers who need to comply with various social distancing guidelines. With its new writing competition, the Chickenshed Theatre offers a useful platform for new work with eight stories now available in monolog 4, its latest collection of tales available in two ‘groups’ from the theatre’s website.

With a remit to provide stories from different perspectives and locations, this fourth compilation was intended for the stage in January but has instead been filmed on the empty Chickenshed Theatre stage and made available online. Group A offers domestic stories about the unhappy aftermath of relationships, nosy neighbours and a surprise artist, while Group B looks at the price of fame, mythical creatures, the impact of social media and a life beyond a partner.

Best among them is Rebecca Hardy’s Come Closer (Group B) about “Star Chaser” Lisa who is definitely not a stalker. Her connection with former childhood-friend-turned-famous-musician Howard is delivered in a chatty and engaging style by Julie Wood who immerses the viewer into this vivid story. With its themes of unhappy marriage, first love and the boredom of middle age, Hardy’s character comes alive as she (somewhat deludedly) looks to relive her youth by following her idol and add some much-needed sparkle to her days.

In a similar theme, Sophie White’s Whatever Happened to Abigail Winters (Group B) charts the desperation for and destructive power of fame. Filmed in four scenes, it uses comedy scenarios to capture and comment on the first audition tape as the overlooked Abigail explains her need to be seen before peaking on a chat show and then suffering a very public decline driven by Twitter trolling. In a similar vein, Sebastian Ross writes about media escalation when a competition entrant finds his apparently meaningless artwork becomes the toast of the town. Drawing on the extravagant nature of cultural criticism, the stakes get higher as the piece unfolds and the artist discovers there may be purpose in his work after all.

There are other enjoyable monologues including Matthew Patenall and Gill Patenall’s Neighbour Hood Watch (Group A) which explores appearances and assumptions, which, like Alan Bennett’s A Lady of Letters, creates a small-minded and judgemental protagonist whose misguided self-righteousness overcomes him. Hannah Smith takes a different perspective, putting an 11-year-old at the centre of a story about fairies in Group B’s The Sleep Stealers. Enhanced by Lucy-Mae Beacock’s sweet and enthusiastic performance, there is social texture around the edges of the fantasy about poverty, an understanding of debt and repayment that a child shouldn’t need to know that adds a valuable realist layer.

Some of the monologues are a little long and while they all use the same space there is inconsistency between the directors about whether the actor looks out to the non-existent audience rather than into the camera, asking questions about who they are relating their tale to if not us. Nonetheless, these two collections of stories capture a range of experiences as ordinary people endure strange events, fame and the everyday in this valuable outlet for new writing.

Runs here until 20 February 2021