The Loft Theatre, Leamington Spa
Mosquitoes by Lucy Kirkwood, Directed by Viki Betts
RUNS Through 28th September
Lucy Kirkwood's Mosquitoes is all frontal cortex stuff that made me ask if I had one! Family strife, quantum physics and sexual (sexting) blackmail. All washed down with the question: Why are some family members smart and others retarded - literally retarded.
Of course, none of us know what we do not know and unravelling the actual truth, rather than our own versions of it, is an unanswerable question. To this end, the play addresses those values, morals, ethics, sympathy and empathy we may, or may not have, depending on how our DNA falls, and how our experience in the womb was. Deep? Oh it is. Were I to be that introspective, I fear I may go insane - perhaps I am? But this is the theatre, and my barren mind can safely allow all of this to wash over me, during a couple of hours of, what is, after all, a playwright's snap-shot of those moments in time that we all have - the quixotic and the sensible, the 'norms' and the lateral.
The Loft Theatre has always touched on the raw truth. At its best, the work of the company can, and has, really evoked those emotions which have been placed in the mind's attic for years. Its 'best' actors have appeared together in many of the Loft's seminal works - "Consent" being the uncomfortable triumph that featured two of the principals of Mosquitoes
So bring on Ruth Herd and Leonie Frazier as sisters Jenny and Alice. Alice (Herd) is the daughter of award-winning physicist Karen (Sue Moore) and is quite brilliant, while looking for the Higgs-boson particle (as you do). Meanwhile, Jenny, (Frazier), is, as is stated in the script "not as intelligent," as she struggles - mostly innocently - with everything that life throws at her when, after all, she is "retarded." Herd, as is her style, makes everything look pretty easy. She is an actress that has that rare ability to make the audience forget the medium - she IS what she is playing. It's quite a skill but its mesmerizing to watch. Here she shifts between the awkward task (of admitting her brilliance) of being a protege to her decorated Mother (Moore), and the desire to connect with her errant sibling and her equally wayward son (the excellent Ted McGowan). As Jenny, Frazier starts the evening balancing on a large pregnancy ball, on her stomach, while showing us the embryonic character [sic] that eventually morphs into that unnoticeable and hypocritical class of the also-ran. At first, I judged her performance as mis-directed, one of glib delivery and trite physicality. That is, until I realized that the very essence of her being, WAS to undertake these mannerisms in the unforgiving world of failure. Frazier (who is professionally ALRA trained,) therefore, by her laissez faire opening, quite shocked me, as she nonchalantly turned in a remarkable performance - a portrait of a woman whose failures were blissfully innocent - and as her mother says, "She will never begin to understand."
So what of Sue Moore as the "Matriarch" of the family. Well, it's her best work. Moore is towering as a once-genius whose mind has become rewired - a victim of age, of deterioration, of leaves turning brown. Lucid at times, and rapier-witty at others, the sentiments of life begin to seep through, where honesty is now the best policy and where there is no longer room for the superficial, the disingenuous. It's a beautiful portrait - sad, but beautiful, but to give the most sacred moment away would be a spoiler.
Among the youth of the company, Ted McGowan, as Alice's troubled son Luke turns in another superb performance, while Alice Arthur as Natalie (in one of the play's superfluous plotlines) shows that the Loft's welcoming of young talent is something that will pay dividends years from now). Arthur is straight out of university and, as we have seen in "Lovesong", "Little Voice" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream", fresh, raw and youthful talent will keep this theatre relevant for years to come.
Chris Gilbey-Smith took over the role of the boson one week before opening - would we have known? Absolutely not. I loved him in ‘Art’ and again, his presence is not only merited in this production, but is enjoyed and admired were he to have rehearsed for six weeks. I will relish his production of "Spring Awakening" next year - a show I saw with the original cast on Broadway and one that is an audacious addition to the Loft's 2025 line-up. But, if there's a troupe that can pull off that hugely difficult and cultishly-followed Broadway show, it's the Loft. I've seen enough Dolly's, 42nd Streets and Oklahoma's to last me a few lifetimes. Quodos to the Loft for staging what is, to the pre-Hamilton 2000's what Rent was to the 1990's.
So, who is responsible for this? Well, Viki Bett's direction is as incisive and creative as it gets. As any director knows, the play is the thing, but the actors have to be able to tell the story with an appreciation of audience and each other within the company. Moreover, a seamless experience is sometimes lacking - clumsy set-changes, over-long blackouts in which nothing happens save worry. A fluidity broken and an audience forgiving these 'mishaps'. Not so here. Bett's can take credit that an uninterrupted through-line occurred. Her scene changes used 'actors' in white coats (did she see Nye at the National?) Her sound and projection choices were subliminal and her understanding of the script (as over-burdened with plot as it is), unquestioned. Hers is a palpable understanding of the form, of actors and of process. She is naturally among the Loft's Premier League. Now, this is NOT a perfect play. Too many plot-lines left inconclusive and to be honest, too many plotlines per se. But it remains an incandescent evening and but for the Loft, and Sue Moore's willingness to tackle such work, it would probably not be seen locally.
***** Bottom line: Stellar performances mostly mesmerize in this Lucy Kirkwood revival.
Mosquitoes by Lucy Kirkwood, Directed by Viki Betts
RUNS Through 28th September
Lucy Kirkwood's Mosquitoes is all frontal cortex stuff that made me ask if I had one! Family strife, quantum physics and sexual (sexting) blackmail. All washed down with the question: Why are some family members smart and others retarded - literally retarded.
Of course, none of us know what we do not know and unravelling the actual truth, rather than our own versions of it, is an unanswerable question. To this end, the play addresses those values, morals, ethics, sympathy and empathy we may, or may not have, depending on how our DNA falls, and how our experience in the womb was. Deep? Oh it is. Were I to be that introspective, I fear I may go insane - perhaps I am? But this is the theatre, and my barren mind can safely allow all of this to wash over me, during a couple of hours of, what is, after all, a playwright's snap-shot of those moments in time that we all have - the quixotic and the sensible, the 'norms' and the lateral.
The Loft Theatre has always touched on the raw truth. At its best, the work of the company can, and has, really evoked those emotions which have been placed in the mind's attic for years. Its 'best' actors have appeared together in many of the Loft's seminal works - "Consent" being the uncomfortable triumph that featured two of the principals of Mosquitoes
So bring on Ruth Herd and Leonie Frazier as sisters Jenny and Alice. Alice (Herd) is the daughter of award-winning physicist Karen (Sue Moore) and is quite brilliant, while looking for the Higgs-boson particle (as you do). Meanwhile, Jenny, (Frazier), is, as is stated in the script "not as intelligent," as she struggles - mostly innocently - with everything that life throws at her when, after all, she is "retarded." Herd, as is her style, makes everything look pretty easy. She is an actress that has that rare ability to make the audience forget the medium - she IS what she is playing. It's quite a skill but its mesmerizing to watch. Here she shifts between the awkward task (of admitting her brilliance) of being a protege to her decorated Mother (Moore), and the desire to connect with her errant sibling and her equally wayward son (the excellent Ted McGowan). As Jenny, Frazier starts the evening balancing on a large pregnancy ball, on her stomach, while showing us the embryonic character [sic] that eventually morphs into that unnoticeable and hypocritical class of the also-ran. At first, I judged her performance as mis-directed, one of glib delivery and trite physicality. That is, until I realized that the very essence of her being, WAS to undertake these mannerisms in the unforgiving world of failure. Frazier (who is professionally ALRA trained,) therefore, by her laissez faire opening, quite shocked me, as she nonchalantly turned in a remarkable performance - a portrait of a woman whose failures were blissfully innocent - and as her mother says, "She will never begin to understand."
So what of Sue Moore as the "Matriarch" of the family. Well, it's her best work. Moore is towering as a once-genius whose mind has become rewired - a victim of age, of deterioration, of leaves turning brown. Lucid at times, and rapier-witty at others, the sentiments of life begin to seep through, where honesty is now the best policy and where there is no longer room for the superficial, the disingenuous. It's a beautiful portrait - sad, but beautiful, but to give the most sacred moment away would be a spoiler.
Among the youth of the company, Ted McGowan, as Alice's troubled son Luke turns in another superb performance, while Alice Arthur as Natalie (in one of the play's superfluous plotlines) shows that the Loft's welcoming of young talent is something that will pay dividends years from now). Arthur is straight out of university and, as we have seen in "Lovesong", "Little Voice" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream", fresh, raw and youthful talent will keep this theatre relevant for years to come.
Chris Gilbey-Smith took over the role of the boson one week before opening - would we have known? Absolutely not. I loved him in ‘Art’ and again, his presence is not only merited in this production, but is enjoyed and admired were he to have rehearsed for six weeks. I will relish his production of "Spring Awakening" next year - a show I saw with the original cast on Broadway and one that is an audacious addition to the Loft's 2025 line-up. But, if there's a troupe that can pull off that hugely difficult and cultishly-followed Broadway show, it's the Loft. I've seen enough Dolly's, 42nd Streets and Oklahoma's to last me a few lifetimes. Quodos to the Loft for staging what is, to the pre-Hamilton 2000's what Rent was to the 1990's.
So, who is responsible for this? Well, Viki Bett's direction is as incisive and creative as it gets. As any director knows, the play is the thing, but the actors have to be able to tell the story with an appreciation of audience and each other within the company. Moreover, a seamless experience is sometimes lacking - clumsy set-changes, over-long blackouts in which nothing happens save worry. A fluidity broken and an audience forgiving these 'mishaps'. Not so here. Bett's can take credit that an uninterrupted through-line occurred. Her scene changes used 'actors' in white coats (did she see Nye at the National?) Her sound and projection choices were subliminal and her understanding of the script (as over-burdened with plot as it is), unquestioned. Hers is a palpable understanding of the form, of actors and of process. She is naturally among the Loft's Premier League. Now, this is NOT a perfect play. Too many plot-lines left inconclusive and to be honest, too many plotlines per se. But it remains an incandescent evening and but for the Loft, and Sue Moore's willingness to tackle such work, it would probably not be seen locally.
***** Bottom line: Stellar performances mostly mesmerize in this Lucy Kirkwood revival.
