Parlour Song was arresting from the very first moment

The tale as old as time didn’t get old


An insatiable yearning for lemonade, lots of buildings blowing up and the most sexually charged scrabble game you will ever witness – director Jamie Jones’ cast of three were completely arresting in Parlour Song.  The affable Dale, played by Louis Catliff and the gregarious Ned, played by Noah Liebmiller created unfailingly entertaining moments with every interaction. The funny and the highly emotive intermingled successfully – when we weren’t laughing at Ned’s antics, we were feeling sorry him.

Both characters spent a considerable amount of time jumping around on stage and their energy levels were indefatigable – it was particularly impressive when Louis Catliff’s Dale carried out around ten burpees without so much as a heavy breath (that’s ten more burpees than I can do) – I commend their fitness as well as their acting.

Sexual innuendo was certainly not lacking as an extra-marital affair brewed: The smooth talking Joy was played by a cool and collected Hannah Raymond-Cox. She was the complementary hard-to-please wife to the eager-to-please Ned and her calm portrayal of an unsatisfied wife made Liebmiller’s Ned look like even more of a volatile emotional rollercoaster. The actors worked really well with one another and you could tell they had built up a degree of comfort and rapport with each other – It was high energy, it was engaging, and it was also very sensual at times. For those of you wondering about the lemons in the promotional shots, honestly I am still unsure as to what was going on there, go and see it and maybe you can tell me.

The use of technology was well placed and imaginatively employed – a projector was used so the audience could watch along with Ned the demolition man, disconcertingly entranced whilst watching things being blown up over and over again. Whilst oftentimes movement backstage was less than incognito, I wouldn’t let that take away from a five star rating.

Through sheer force of character, the actors created an almost tangible gravitas in the most trivial conversations. As an audience member, I laughed, but I was anxiety ridden a lot of the time. This show was arresting from the very first moment and is one of the best I’ve seen in the Barron thus far.