Review: Freshers’ Plays – Shakers

 The show began the minute we entered the room, being shown to our seats by frantically smiling waitresses. The front half of the room set out with tables and chairs which gave the whole room a nice relaxed cabaret feel alongside suggesting the setting of the Shakers bar and restaurant.

The story is an intertwined ensemble piece with four actors playing a multitude of roles, telling the story of a night in the bar. Featuring girls on a birthday party, bar staff, difficult customers, meant the play was a vibrant clash of cultures and personalities with both trivial and more serious scenes.

With so many characters from so many different backgrounds, each with distinct accents and mannerisms, the range of acting was impressive, with particular mention to every time the girls played men. Not only was this funny and engaging but seeing women play the male gender stereotype powerfully emphasised the lack of respect in the men’s behavior.

There were some absolutely great moments in the show, Summer Kirkham’s audition scene where she talked about her grandmother’s stroke was powerful and very moving – her intensity in that scene really allowed the audience into the character’s head. Imogen Hooper had some lovely comedic moments as she played at being a man, or made a well-timed sarcastic comment and Emilia King had a great diversity and range easily quickly from bitchy to innocent as she jumped from character to character. However the standout performance was from Olivia Whitting whose intensity and connection to the audience never faded and no matter what part she was playing managed to be completely believable and able to show the audience the character’s essence.

The set was minimalist having nothing but raised platform along the back of the stage to serve as a bar, and a few chairs that could be moved. This worked well with the piece which changes so rapidly from place to place that set changes would have been impossible, the actors defined the set and on the whole did it well although I think the addition of a few props would have lifted some of the scenes and helped the audience follow the narrative.

The direction was good and character focused, which was appropriate for the show, but lacked a little in smooth transitions between scenes. The use of space was well thought out and the lighting use was very effective, but once or twice the direction seemed a little contrived – a few of the ‘spoken stage-directions’ seem a little out of place.

Overall the show was incredibly enjoyable and well performed. Whilst a few scenes dropped in energy or lost focus, this was compensated for in the scenes where all the actors pulled together and connected to the audience. It was a shame Shakers only ran for one night as I think that more people should have had the chance to see it and I believe that a second performance would have ironed out the kinks and allowed a move from a good performance to a great one.