In A Forest... / Vaudeville Theatre / 26.05.11

It was a dark and stormy night…

We’ve all heard the stories, the ones that start in a deep, dark forest, with nobody around to know what transpires, to know exactly what happens to the characters – be it good, bad or ugly.

With In a Forest, Dark and Deep, debuting worldwide at the Vaudeville Theatre on the Strand, we are lost in a claustrophobic cabin with only Bobby (Matthew Fox) and Betty (Olivia Williams) for somewhat reluctant company – admittedly, typically white-trash names, but in a small town like the one they hail from, quite acceptable.

I’ll not lie, I definitely hassled my friend into going, because, well, it’s Matthew Fox, isn’t it? Everyone Loves Jack-off-LOST, and I’ll agree that that was my main reasoning for going – but then again, it looked like more than half of the audience were there for that reason, and that reason alone (cue the wolf-whistles when he came onstage, and the bated breath at the merest hint of chest)… I didn’t wolf-whistle, I promise. She said she enjoyed it in the end, so I’d say it was a victory, of sorts.

Anyway. Set on two levels, and kept fresh by the sudden bouts of sibling rivalry, and ‘surprising’ revelations throughout, In a Forest is compelling because it scrambles to a climax that, from the off, is a little bit predictable, but a lot surprising. We kept watching because looking away was impossible.

Fox is interesting as Bobby. Aesthetically, he’s got the looks to be a leading man, but they let him down a little here – though with his (slightly frightening) beard covering most of his pretty face, you do get the sense that someone’s had a genius idea, and he at least looks the right part. With a checked overshirt and Nirvana tee underneath, everyone has him down as the bad-boy from the word ‘go’ – though, as with most pieces of fiction, things aren’t necessarily as they seem. Cue the lovely looking Olivia Williams (Of the Live-action-Peter-Pan fame), as his sister, having invited him to this cabin to help her pack and transport the hordes of books all over the place. Her tenant has moved on, and she really doesn’t know what to do.

It all spirals down from there.

The quality of the acting is pretty brilliant, I have to say – with Fox on debut, you’d maybe expect some kind of fear, but there was nothing in his eyes but fire and readiness – and he tackles the role almost perfectly, though I’d like to know where all of his beard came from, there were a lot of creepy whiskers in there. Williams, as a seasoned lady of the stage, is very at home at the Vaudeville, and uses the space she’s given impressively.

Personally, I was impressed with the whole thing, though my friend did point out some holes which I thought could be easily explained away. I won’t cover them in depth for fear of revealing too much of the plot, suffice it to say that Williams’ reactions are not those you’d expect in a simple sibling argument… even though I’d argue that with the time constraints they have (no interval, and approximately 90 minutes runtime), not everything can be expressed to its full potential. We had to agree to disagree on that one.

On the whole, In a Forest Dark and Deep is a pretty good play, and I’d definitely advise you to see it on its next run. Unfortunately, it’s closed since we went to see it, having had only a month’s run, but next time. I just advise you that next time… you go.

Seriously, it’ll be worth it.

In A Forest: Ran 3^rd March – 4^th June

Star Rating: ★★★★

Lord Of The Flies / Regent's Park Open Air Theatre / 27.05.2011

Evidence of a Crash - Pre-Performance, the wreckage (Credit: Isabella V.B)

In a normal theatre, it is easy to tell when the play begins. The lights drop, perhaps there’s music to set the mood, and the curtain rises across the stage. Not so in the bright, early summer light at Regent’s Park’s Open Air Theatre. People visibly jolted at the start of Friday night’s production of Lord of the Flies, and I’m unashamed to admit I was one of them. Everything was big at the beginning – big noise, big smoke, and a huge, wrecked British Airways plane that drew the eye from the moment you walked into the arena. In seconds, though, it became almost claustrophobic, smoke from the wreckage blinding everyone lucky enough to be close to the stage. Engrossed in a chilling play such as this, it was easy to forget that the late afternoon sunshine would fade into darkness, and with it seemingly all the light in the world.

From the fore, the boys – for the actors are simply that, more than half of them making their professional debuts – are forced into an athletically charged piece, Ralph (Alistair Toovey) entertaining with handstands, and Jack (James Clay) and Roger (Matt Ingram) swinging through the mangled set like the savages they eventually become. Nobody is left untested; however, every member of the cast is put through their paces in exhausting movement sequences that are deliberate, yet probably the weakest part of the play – bringing a slightly secondary-school drama to the otherwise almost perfect performance.

From the public-school, highly strung Jack, leader of the school choir and prefect who dissolves into a strangely demonic, almost regressed infant, king of the savages, to his adversary, Ralph, too kind to be a leader, but too angry to let it all go, the children are left on their own to fall into the worst parts of human nature, the stubborn, angry, humiliated parts which are so carefully hidden from the light of day, until they are given free reign.

It is perhaps most noticeable in Roger, beautifully acted by Ingram, the outsider from the school of ‘nowhere’, plugged into his headphones and certainly looking like the oldest there, who has become a chilling, manic and demented boy with wild eyes and a sick disposition,. Even as the drama unfolds, you get a sense that Roger isn’t quite there – both psychologically and socially. Less of an outcast than Piggy (George Bukhari), but still on the fringe because he steps into the gang after everyone else is introduced, he is just as lost as the rest of the boys, no matter how old he seems.

That is the beauty of this adaptation. Flies is usually student fodder, the book that children hate at GCSE; but this is something I doubt anybody could walk away from with dislike in their hearts. The story has been told so many times that it sparks knowledge from a passing reference, but this is different. Yes, we are presented with a group of children – for the actors are simply that, forced into an adulthood destined to fail from the start, but Williams’ adaptation is explosive – literally, with the opening of the second act unimaginably blinding and typically, theatrically savage. It appeals to the audience, whatever their age, because this is a show based on the shades of grey that everyone must face, at least once in their lives.

Lord Of The Flies: Runs through June 18th 2011. 

Star Rating: ★★★★★