Review: Attempts on her life

The opening consisted of a single spotlight pointed at the centre of the stage while answer phone messages played, all for someone named ‘Anne’. These ranged from a terrorist, to her mother, and ended with all the messages being deleted. This set the scene for the anonymous ‘Anne’.

Show rehersals – and welcome the cast

The cast were extremely well rehearsed & tackled the difficult script wonderfully. As there were no specific characters each scene brought a new dynamic to each actor’s interpretation, which made for a constantly evolving performance. The script was relevant to current events & pushed ideas of equality & creating a support network within a community.

Favourite moments:

● The car scene: a cheesy advertisement showcasing the ‘Annie’, a car for perfect people. This highlighted racism & a constant strive for perfection within our society. It also provided comic relief while driving its point home (no pun intended).

● The use of Michael Jackson’s ‘Smooth Criminal’ during one of the scene changes.

● Fiona Hoghton’s Spanish translation during an entire scene.

● The lighting during the scene where two of the cast members dismembered a body was effectively simple – one lamp place front stage right, creating shadows on the wings & ensuring a spooky atmosphere.

Standout performances came from:

Beatrice Lawrence, who gave an incredibly realistic performance when she took on specific characters, but also managed to snap in & out of them smoothly & easily.

Arthur Geldard, who showed off his talents by leading the cast in a musical number, playing the ukulele & singing.

Iggy Jeffery, who really should consider a career in sales! His comic performances were flawless & he has a real stage presence that makes him hard not to notice.

This was a truly enjoyable performance, full of political statements & upheld by a strong cast. Sometimes, due to the shape & size of the space, some lines were difficult to hear, but this was a miniscule issue. It’s a shame the audience was only about half full, but unfortunately we’re in the middle of the exam period. As only 10 scenes were portrayed, the performance was only an hour long & left me wanting more. A massive well done to all involved – it was brilliant!