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Dialogue Productions present:

LAND OF THE DEAD

HELTER SKELTER

A double bill of two short plays by:

Neil La Bute

Director: Patricia Beneke

THE BUSH THEATRE

15 January-16 February, 2008

‘To tell a fully rounded story within a few pages, with characters and plot and conflict, is no easy thing…’ states playwright Neil LaBute. And indeed it isn’t. The plot has to be simple enough not muddle an audience within the half an hour in which an entire story is being told- nor must it be so simple that it bores an audience.

Both Land of the Dead and Helter Skelter tell the stories of a woman in a dilemma, in the case of these two plays the dilemma is situated around pregnancy. Although the plays are not at all related to each other, this mutual concept does tie them into each other making the double bill flow swiftly from one play to another. Both women in the plays live tortured lives due to hellish men. The characters are stereotypes, as stereotypes are based on humans, an audience can often relate to them. However, there is also the danger than they may offend an audience- are women always so misunderstood by men? Do women expect too much from a man? Can men be quite so obviously dumb? Well maybe. But maybe an audience wants to see more than this- an audience want to see why, an audience wants a solution, and half an hour just isn’t long enough for one.

Neil LaBute has managed to tell a full rounded story in both these plays, with characters, plot and conflict. The perfect word to describe both the plays is intense. They are dramatic. You hold your breath, waiting, wondering what will happen, knowing that whatever it may be is sure to be tragedy. The characters have been delved into enough so that we can sympathise with them (particularly the women’s characters; though I am relating to them as a woman, a male audience member may have a completely different take on the plays). However, at the end of both the plays I still wanted to know more about the characters. All I had seen during the plays were the stereotypes, and yes we may all be stereotypes, but human beings are not just stereotypes, there is more to us than that, and this is not shown. The second play in particular falls into the trap of being just that little bit too simple, the twist given away too early, and the audience seeing in what direction the play will go in. Timing is everything in a play of this length, and Neil La Bute is obviously aware of this, and has tackled the difficulties of writing short plays with bravery. In Land of the Dead the play is swift, and the storyline moves forward smoothly, with the help of the slight but poignant musical effects designed by Nikola Kodjabashia. Ruth Gemmel who plays the women in both the plays is what drew me in most to both of the storylines, she played the parts with feeling and honesty, but once again I think this may be a very female approach to this play, and a male reviewer may have felt completely different.

The Bush Theatre was a perfect space to see these performances, and provided an intimate atmosphere amongst the audience as we are crowded around this small stage space. It is known for showing new writing from very diverse backgrounds. Unfortunately the Arts Council has recently cut The Bush’s funding by half, which will make it very difficult for the theatre to continue running in the way it is today- bringing new and exciting writing to audiences in London. Please visit the website for more information on what’s going on and what the general public may be able to do to save the theatre. The theatre is a wonderful space for performance and I’d recommend it to any enthusiastic theatre goer as it is an unusual but powerful space. Let’s not beat around the bush- let’s save it.

Saturday Matinees 26 Jan, 2, 9, 16 Feb 3pm - £10
All other perfs. 8pm - £15, £10 concs.