Many Moons by Alice Birch @ Stanley Halls, South London Theatre

Many Moons by Alice Birch was an apt choice for my weekly theatre outing, given that I am currently preparing the Juniper Jessops cringeworthy ‘I am looking for love’ monologue for an upcoming drama school audition at ArtsEd and Mountview next month. Rebecca Crow’s delightful and energetic Juniper was exactly personified in the brash northern lulls that I envisaged, and almost like a perfect pitch for a home made online dating video clip.  South London Theatre’s temporary home at Stanley Halls was a striking setting for such an intimate piece where one felt at home to share some overtly private and frank discussions on such emotionally raw topics such as sex, and truthfulness which was laid out bare for all to see. Many Moons is a parody of truth and deception in that Birch’s reference to social media is a tool in demystifying people’s lives to revealing one’s bare existence.

From the outset, the characters were all present on stage and the audience almost felt rude to walk in and interrupt them given their apparent vulnerability and perhaps knowing there is a story to come behind the distracted and dejected faces of both young and old telling their story on love. What is stark obvious in Birch’s writing is that no matter how old or young we are, we still continually face the same trials and tribulations of finding love, especially in such a vaste and lonely city like London. Four people who initially appear disconnected from one another all share the same discontentment, albeit in different time and journey phases yet eventually lead their lives in parallel abundancy. The four characters were initially presented to us like an ordinary everyman walking the streets of London with their average life story of perhaps being in a relationship, married with a family or divorced and still looking for love. Many Moons captures an adequate snapshot of a typical cross section of a floundering society of all shapes and sizes.


The body language of Ollie (Edward Cherrie) who had his head in his hands conveyed that of a frustrated and unfulfilled twenty something year old not sure what love even means. Meg (Catherine Ellis Raku-Evans) appeared confident and seemed to have the perfect middle class domestic home life on the surface, but what was hidden beneath was a tale of deception and superficiality in a far from perfect marriage. The stage setting was coerced purposefully to reflect and invite us into their individual plight as an open forum like a therapy session.  Robert (Barry Heselden) appeared like the perfect gent besotted with his beloved June, yet again was the culprit of devastation within the community hiding ghastly secrets yet still able to carry the propensity of loving another human being. Juniper (Rebecca Crow) was the excitable and naïve breathe of fresh air that made us all semi convinced that finding true love may not be such an impossibility after all. What was so refreshing about the play itself is that everyone in the audience can relate to a character. I may connect closer to Juniper in age, but looming to my 30th birthday feel a tad more mature and cynical in that marriage and babies seems ever further removed. I also possess the bashfulness of Ollie who is a kindred soul, and is looking for love in all the wrong places.


This SL production was abound with poignant and enrapturing tender moments, but at certain points lost its pacing with repetitive methods of dialogue delivery and not enough variation especially at the beginning. However, this may seem an overly harsh critique as monologues are incredibly challenging, and effectively one could say it was a series of individuals performing to their audience as their was no interrelation between the actors. Crow suddenly woke us up again at key moments with her loud and over the top demeanour that was both irritating and endearing simultaneously. What really brought the production to life was the introduction of movement which could have perhaps been more gradually introduced given the gravitas of long monologue speeches that didn’t seem to have differing flavours to them each time they rotated.


The lighting flashes on the repetitive dialogue during the paedophile shaming scene was highly effective as was the finale blackout which was quite surprising given the lightness of the final line ‘I love you too’. I half expected a more light and open conclusion and perhaps an abridgement from the written play here, as there was certainly room for experimentation. The lighting of the multi-coloured bulbs was better than stronger stage lighting shadowed on the actor in turn and was more of an unconventional choice. A lot of the production’s meaning was understated and we all perhaps took away different understandings as it was interesting to hear tail ends of conversations as I left the performance hall. I enjoyed the devised staging how the actors didn’t physically connect, but managed to convey an interconnection with one another’s parallel lives without any direct communication or contact. This was particularly well polished when Juniper and Ollie nearly met but didn’t due to circumstances, and also Juniper trying to help a perfect stranger in Meg on Stoke Newington high street. The actors very much made these characters their own in a simplistic and naturalistic fashion. Crow delightfully portrayed Juniper’s dramatic expressions and reactions without overplaying the loudness and naivety. Overall, the short interludes of variety in accents, lighting and movement could have been introduced a tad earlier to breathe abit more life into the first half of the production.





Next week Thursday 2 June: The radicalisation of Bradley Manning by Southside Players, Balham  

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Down and out in Paris and London- New Diorama Theatre and Greenwich Theatre

Social inequality, elitism and turning our back on the poor are all pertinent politicised themes that are a tad too close to home and that still remain at the epicentre of our belligerent society. New Diorama Theatre director David Byrne tackles the adage socio-economic question of ‘what do we do to help those in need?’ and the answer to that question was explicitly conveyed in this production of Down and out in Paris and London. In essence, it is widely agreed that we live in a selfish and uncharitable world where we all fight for what we believe we are entitled to with auspicious success. The actors were impeccable and I enjoyed viewing them in multiple roles, especially Stella Taylor who seemed to be the ever hard faced council representative that the audience loved to hate with her stealth and brutal approach towards her clients and the so called less favourable characters of society.

Whilst I am a leftist at heart, I was not entirely convinced by Polly Toynbee’s Hard work, Hard work influences within the piece as at times it seemed overly journalistic and more experimental than actually being personified by a real character actually living and breathing this misery. One must remember that this Guardian journalist simply trialled the tribulations by choice rather than it being imperatively thrust upon her as one could easily make the same reference to Orwell, given his upper middle class Eton education. Toynbee was always able to escape ‘the poor life’ at any given moment and I think that Byrne could have honed in on his own direct experiences of Hull life, and actual personalised afflictions which I read with emphatic interest in the programme. It was a blurry distinction at times whether poverty is a choice or a real genuine affliction, and in reality we all know the truth behind that dichotomy.

On a personal level, Byrne’s production rang all true for a native less prosperous northerner such as myself attracted by the bright lights of London and vaste opportunities. Whilst it is true that city life affords society a better income for educated young graduates who flock for their slice of success and prosperity, it can also be an unending cycle of misery and eternal hardship for those that work extended hours to just keep a roof over their head or need transport money to get to their next interview for a less than perfect opportunity on minimum wage. It was Ascoe’s (Toynbee) dark soliloquy of her middle class London lifestyle of taxis, restaurants and residential surburbia to her outage in tenement block living in Tower Hamlets where light bulbs were a luxury that struck most resonance with myself. Whilst I can hardly relate to the homeless or unemployed citizens of this city, I could recognise the underlying tone that the well documented stereotype of the poor abusing the system is never that of an entirely accurate one. The piece certainly favoured the UK welfare system letting the claimant down, and of course genuine hard workers such as Toynbee could always fall on hard times. Nothing is certain during times of economic or social instability, and the world may well be changing to recognise crisis and reach out to those who need it. However, I severely refute this claim that the world is becoming a kinder place to those less fortunate than ourselves.

Scene changes between the past and the present moment were effortlessly seamless which demonstrated his key message that nothing has ever really changed in terms of social mobility. The minimal set design helped with reducing the number of distractions on stage, as sometimes there was too much going on at once. The physicality of the actors, especially using prop devices was artistically effective and eased the switch between the tale of the two cities. Although, I have to admit I felt as if scenes were almost too packed and I easily think the piece could have been longer, even 3 hours and it would still have encaptured all of the key messages without boring the viewer. I certainly wasn’t ready to leave when the show came to somewhat of an unnatural ending. Indeed, I asked my neighbour whether it was simply the interlude as I didn't feel ready to leave. In places, the piece seemed rushed and too quick for reflective interlude as I couldn’t keep apace with my thoughts and felt very overwhelmed when the show ended and was unable to process my initial reaction to the production, other than to say it was hard hitting.


Whilst political plays carry significant symbolism and anecdotal feelings amongst viewers thinking 'oh I must do more, I must volunteer', the sad reality is far what removed and the effect of long term pity for the unemployed and homeless is only ever short lasting. The very sad truth that Byrne excellently portrays is the poor still live amongst the poor and have little chance to go to night school (Toynbee) as the work shifts dictate the ever repetitive cycle of monotonous and tedious work. The middle classes and the rich still carry on as normal as long as nothing interrupts their lifestyle and brings havoc or disruption to the affluent streets of surburbia. Overall, I think Byrne could have taken more political risks than he did, as I would have liked to have seen more provocation of the real class war beyond the archetypal welfare debate. There was evidently subtle and not so subtle references to workers rights, the present state of the NHS but nothing touched upon more worrying crisis’ of the 21st century such as how mass immigration will change our economic landscape and effectively provoke further global issues. Whilst it is evident playwrights are wary to touch upon these issues for fear of political correctness, it may just be what we need in order to really take action from the theatre we see around us. Indeed, theatre is escapism but also it is essential to have a healthy dose of realism so that we can all proudly stand up for what we believe in and help make the world a better place.

Next week: Friday 27 May @ South London Theatre, Norwood Junction 'Many Moons' by Alice Birch.