Review: The Queen of Seventh Avenue

As someone with a half-written play on her computer and (dare I say it?) a Concept, I am all too aware how difficult writing a play is. Writing a play to fill the cavern that is Venue One, set in the 1920s, with a Charleston at the end, to be frank, takes balls, yet Katie Brennan the first playwright/director going up under the SAND [St Andrews New Drama] banner took on the challenge.

On entering Venue One, we were confronted with the venue not as it usually is, rather transformed into The Bluebird night club, complete with flapper girls and music to suit. It was the utter commitment of cast and crew alike to transport the audience to Prohibition Era America that was particularly impressive and the set, costume and music of the piece were particularly strong. It was the little touches, such as the inclusion of a period radio, that elevated the set beyond the expectation of student drama

The Queen of Seventh Avenue [QoSA] concerns itself with two sisters and their relationship not only with one another but with partners both past and present. My summary there makes QoSA sound incredibly simple, but there were a lot of Issues thrown at the play, from racism within the Church to the importance of faith to bribing police officers to murder, and it was in the massive plot that issues started to arise. Whilst Brennan has clearly got an ear for comedy – the comedy of the play was a particular strength, with the audience making clear their appreciation with laughter throughout – the plot felt somewhat baggy and, in places, convoluted: the was a degree of heavy-handedness to some of the scenes, and the play would certainly have benefitted from a slightly lighter touch.

Opening with a spot of Charleston-ing to take us back to Gatsby-era America, the audience was thrown in at the deep end, confronted with the beating up of Jonathon, one of the principle characters. This first scene, due to blocking issues, was difficult to hear but once the action came down into the main space, this issue was solved and the play began to fill the massive space of Venue One. Whereas there was some trouble with accents from the ensemble cat, the acting from the four principle characters was generally strong. Sarah Pollock was believable as the downtrodden sister; Cate Kelly captivating as the sister with an upsetting past; Jared Liebmiller convincing in his troubled relationship with the Church as an evangelical pastor; Baxter Gaston, with a great sense of physicality in the fight scene, charismatic in the moral dilemmas he faces on the issue of Prohibition in the play. Although it was a smaller role, the standout performance was given by Wendell Krebs as an amoral gangster, set on getting his own way regardless of who he has to kill to get there. Again, the costume here was lovely – I’m almost scared to ask whether the coat Krebs wore was real fur for I fear I know the answer!

The choreography of both an excellent fight scene and, despite slight timing issues, enjoyable dance scene carried out by Joe Cunningham, was great and a highlight. The end of the play in which audience members were – buoyed up on the cocktail provided with the ticket – dragged to their feet by the cast and crew to join them in a Charleston. It is testament to the enthusiasm of the cast that the entire audience were quick to get in on the dancing action, and it was a lovely way to end the show, despite the fact some of the audience (myself regrettably included) clearly need lessons from Cunningham to get us up to 1920s standard.

In spite of the issues with QoSA, it was certainly interesting to see student-written drama set in a period other than our own, and I enjoyed the production, particularly the central performances and careful attention to setting. I am looking forward to the next play Brennan and her team put on in St Andrews.

The Stand is not using star ratings for plays that go up as part of SAND.