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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Chaser
Verdict: Powerful study of the need for acceptance
Hampshire - 11 week tour - January-April 03
Chaser’s a short 40-minute play about the pressure to conform. Lucy’s a gifted schoolgirl at the start, and dead at the end - not exactly from drugs, but from the need of the lonely to be accepted. It’s a poignant examination of the human condition with a light touch.
We’re at school, the most fashionable girls are Zoe and Charlie. Charlie (Claire Barron) is a consistently nasty piece of work with the strong, bullying personality to enforce her will. Zoe (Louise Boyes) is ambiguous - either good at heart or afraid of the consequences of doing wrong. Their friend Neil (Derek McCormack ) is similar. The trio form a loose clique, which conformist Lucy would love to join.
Lucy (Samantha Sanns) is diligent. Unlike the other girls, she wears a school skirt and uniform (they wear trousers). She’s clever, too (they call her ‘Vorderman’). Her home life’s dull and restrictive, she’s focused on achievement. At school she’s isolated, she’d like to be accepted.
Charlie, Neil and Zoe are under-age, but try unsuccessfully to get drink at the off-licence. They’re spotted by mistress Miss Taylor (Samantha Sanns) and cautioned.
Next night, Zoe’s been grounded by her mother (Derek McCormack). Charlie’s determined to have a good time on her own. Ultra-cool older girl Kelly (Samantha Sanns) and her boyfriend Owen (Derek McCormack) help Charlie buy alcohol, and challenge her to a drinking competition. They leave her unconscious in the park. Neil finds her and takes her home.
Lucy’s home without friends, playing air-guitar in her room. Her dad (Derek McCormack) complains about the noise. ‘Dad! It’s Friday night!’ / ‘Why don’t you go out?’ he suggests. But she’s no-one to go out with.
It’s Charlie’s birthday. Neil’s failed to get fake IDs for the trio to get into a night club. Charlie’s angry. Neil’s suggestion (‘We could get out a video’) doesn’t appease. Zoe’s getting wimpish too, so it looks like Charlie’s going to be on her own. Enter Lucy, desperate to be included. Charlie’s dismissive: ‘Where are you going, Brownies?’
But Lucy knows a piece of gossip: Kelly’s dumped Owen. Charlie’s curious (she fancies Owen), so Lucy’s allowed to tell what she knows. She’s thrilled to be included, and Charlie produces a spliff. Zoe’s not keen, and she’s keen on Neil: they leave. Lucy and Charlie go off into the night to smoke the joint by the swings. Lucy’s finally achieved her ambition of inclusion.
What happens next is distressing, and the conclusion of this taut and excellent play.
It’s an imaginative piece of writing with strong performances in the numerous roles covered by the gifted cast (in alpha order):
Claire Barron delivers a compelling performance. Her Charlie has no redeeming facets, she’s a study of manipulation, and evil in the making. This, however, does not produce a one-dimensional result: her Charlie is wholly persuasive - and bad. The axis of the play spans from Charlie to Lucy, and Claire Barron gives a fine strength to Charlie.
Louise Boyes produces an excellently whiny Zoe, flexible and weak. The look of guilt as she steals from her mother is a fine piece of minimal acting. The dynamics of the Chaser demand contrasting characters from Charlie and Lucy, with a limp filling of Neil and Zoe in the centre, and Louise Boyes does an excellent and sympathetic job with spineless Zoe in an endearing and understanding performance.
Derek McCormack handles four roles with conviction and panache. If Zoe’s Mum is a bit League of Gentlemen (and Lucy’s Dad alarmingly so), his Neil is a flesh-and-bones schoolboy who’s ill-at-ease with wrong, but a bit morally inert. His Owen is gloriously depraved. After the vacillations and weaknesses of Zoe and Neil, it’s a joy to find one character who is seriously debauched. Derek McCormack delivers four superb performances.
Samantha Sanns covers three roles, each with charisma and sensitivity. Her Miss Taylor is a school-marm par excellence. Her Kelly defines the girl who’s older than us and left school - it’s an archetype we can all remember - to perfection. But it’s her Lucy who’s most memorable. The play needs a Lucy who yearns for inclusion, and Samantha Sanns delivers her - the longing is almost tangible. There’s pathos in her rendering of this lonely child, making the climax of the play extraordinarily powerful in its tragedy.
There’s a well-designed set, with subtle use of screens. The cat-walk’s a smart device, both as a parade-ground, and as a symbol of territory - which Lucy’s finally allowed to mount.
Direction (by Josh Elwell) is lively, subtle and wittily intelligent. He takes the play along at a brisk pace, without rushing it, and uses a fine range of dramatic devices to produce apparent complexity from a simple set and cast of four. He concentrates carefully on the relationship between each combination of friends (and enemies) on stage at any time, with the result of absolute conviction.
There’s no slack in the play - these are 40 blissfully-edited minutes achieving a full-length result - a lesson that many dull 2-hour plays could usefully absorb. The writing is by Kevin Dyer. He’s achieved a taut script with fresh, topical, convincing and sharp dialogue, and a powerful, reflective, story.
Credits Cast (alpha order): Claire Barron (Charlie), Louise Boyes (Zoe), Derek McCormack (Lucy’s Dad, Neil, Zoe’s Mum, Owen), Samantha Sanns (Lucy, Miss Taylor, Kelly). Designer - Sam Pine. Associate Director - Deborah Wilding. Director - Josh Elwell. Writer - Kevin Dyer. Proteus Theatre Company. Administration - Kevin Walsh. General Manager - Julie Bladon.
END
John Park
reviewed Cranbourne, Basingstoke / 28 January 03
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
