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Smejickl presents... Fuchsia
A review by Amber Gregory for EXTRA! EXTRA! All the action takes place in the same chillout room of a London Nightclub. There’s a smashed disco ball in the corner which could only possibly symbolise disaster. A young buff topless guy enters and starts to dance manically clutching tightly onto his bottle of water. And this is where the night begins... This dancer is Guy, high on life and pills after having attended the Live 8 concert on the same day as Gay Pride. This day has filled Guy with excitement, determination and hope for the world, until it comes crashing down again when reunited with an ex one night stand, Edward, who once all those years ago told him to ‘keep at it kid’. Guy has since spent the last five years, continuously working out to try and get the buff body that Edward once had, and now he is the guy who turns heads in clubs. This hot body however isn’t good enough for his even buffer (and incredibly aggressive) boyfriend Hunter. Hunter is hated by both Edward and Guy’s loudmouth friend Bridget, who know that he is too possessive and arrogant for the kind hearted and slightly naive Guy. Then there is Deborah, a famous American actress whose current show has come to the end of its filming and has she has found herself in London reunited with an old ‘friend’ (Christopher) from drama school. Sounds like a lot of characters? It is. And what connects them all? Well, apart from all being on a major high in this club they are all attached in some way to Amanda, a 64 year old free spirited woman who has recently written her very first play based on her own super natural experience of levitation. It doesn’t shock me that this play was written by Matthew Westwood who has previously been a script writer for both Emmerdale and Hollyoaks. Writing a play with so many main characters whose characteristics come across so clearly is most certainly a challenge that Westwood achieves successfully. I was fully entertained throughout the play by the witty script and was drawn in to the numerous storylines which comfortably tied together. The performance given by Jacqueline Pearce was incredible. She slotted in quite comfortably with the younger cast, and both her role and her performance skills brought all of the actors together. Her hoity English accent was not at all condescending as it often can be in the world of RP theatre, yet it had a calming and soothing affect on the audience and you felt yourself warm to her immediately. The set design and music transported us perfectly into the set of a nightclub. The drug fuelled evenings were made extremely clear by the copious amounts of water being drunk by the characters. The disco lights of red, pink, blue and green, along with the mirror ball set the scene without seeming too tacky. The lighting worked well as the numerous colours were used effectively during scenes to display different emotions as well as creating the disco atmosphere. The simplicity of the costumes (in particular Amanda’s dress) where a single prop is changed to signify different nights was quite simply beautiful. One subject of the play that did confuse me slightly however is the title of the play- Fuchsia. Wanting to stand for ‘in the pink’, an entire description of this meaning is described in the programme which having now read several times I am still having difficulty coming to grips with it. Regardless of this however, Fuchsia was a play that I was constantly entertained by, and it is always refreshing to watch a piece of theatre that makes you laugh out loud. The issues it brings up about levitation and spirituality are also interesting to ponder, but may not have been emphasised as much as was originally intended. Nevertheless, this is a sturdy production with a strong cast and an imaginative production team which brings this piece of new writing to life.
Venue: White Bear Theatre Club Box Office: 020 7793 9193
(2 hours 10 minutes with interval)
Tues - Sat @ 7:30pm, Sun @ 5:00pm
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