REVIEW: Users, The Picket

Author Irvine Welsh has already pondered what might have happened to the characters of Trainspotting ten years on, in his own sequel Porno. This hasn’t stopped Tell Tale Theatre devising original new piece Users, which intriguingly intersperses flashback scenes from the well-known film (or rather, Harry Gibson’s stage adaptation) with the company’s own imagining of where they would be further down the line.

 

Users takes place over the wedding day of Mark Renton’s daughter. As fresh-faced, innocent Jenny (Kelly Cromby) prepares to marry sweet-but-gormless Simon (Dan Pendleton), the old gang’s dark days of heroin abuse seem far behind them, until a few familiar faces take their place in church…

 

The walk up the aisle is fun, as cast mingle with the audience making their way up to the stage. Tell Tale’s 1984 was the first theatre production I saw in the Kazimier last year, and the company has again broken new ground bringing a full length play to the Picket. Best of all, again it works, with little to mark Users out as a voluntary, community piece. Its quality design, lighting, sound and a great soundtrack is all used to good effect, especially for party scenes.

 

Meera Bala was spot-on as world-weary Alison, and Sean Roberts convinced as Renton, both in flashbacks to his youth (the play begins with the memorable, if disgusting, toilet scene), and as an older, responsible dad.

 

There was some imaginative casting, most obviously when the audience clocked that Begbie was indeed played by a girl. The drawn-on goatee didn’t detract from the fact Sophie O’Shea’s performance was a winner, as she relished the menace that dripped from every drawn out syllable of the character’s thick Edinburgh accent.

 

It’s not the only liberty they take with the psychotic Begbie, and the decision to have him turn up to the wedding with a boyfriend was an eyebrow-raiser, but isn’t quite explained enough to work.

 

Users ran at 90 minutes with no interval, and sometimes it seemed as if there was simply too much to cram into that time for it to really pack the punch it was attempting. Although the familiarity of the flashback scenes were enjoyable (knowing them practically word-for-word), with characters doubling up from the wedding set-up, it was hard to figure out at first what was going on, and the stage seemed a bit too busy at times.

 

But overall this was an enjoyable, ambitious and inventive production that again showcased the huge potential of all involved in Tell Tale Theatre.

Tell Tale Theatre go Trainspotting with new show Users

MADEUP is pleased to hear that Tell Tale Theatre Company is returning with a new production next month.

 

Users is inspired by the characters and events of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting. Described as “an ensemble piece with a mixture of devised and scripted elements, a journey of highs, lows, twists, turns, laughs and the occasional tear.”

 

The show explores the roller coaster of life and the complex histories we create. Can Mark Renton really settle down? Has Franco Begbie finally mellowed? What is Alison’s dirty secret? And why can’t anyone seem to forget Tommy?

 

They say: “Never defined by convention, Tell Tale Theatre confronts tough issues head on in this dynamic, visual and unexpected tale, exploring where the well-known characters of ‘Trainspotting’ might be now.”

 

Get reacquainted with the original characters, and look forward to meeting some of their new friends.

 

“We have had a great time exploring the dynamic personalities created by Welsh. The aim was to create a production which respects the original play whilst adding our own twist and some new characters. The group are an incredibly committed bunch and we hope their enthusiasm shines through,” said producer and assistant director Leanne Jones.

 

Users follows on from last year’s sell-out success of Tell Tale’s adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984.

 

Performances will take place at The Picket on June 7 and 8 – they will also be showcasing Users at Liverpool Town Hall on Friday, May 18 as part of the Light Night events. Tickets are now on sale from www.seetickets.com, or call 0844 871 8819.

Tell Tale in running for Sky Arts award

Tell Tale Theatre have made it to the last 20 in Sky Arts’ Starstruck competition. The city-based theatre group could win the chance to perform a play in the West End — but they need your vote.

 

The group put on an impressive production of Orwell’s 1984 at the Kazimier in March. To enter the Starstruck competition, they recorded their version of the prologue of Marlowe’s Dr Faustus. Judges have put them on the shortlist, but it’s down to the public to whittle it down to eight companies to kick start the quarter finals.

 

 

For more about the competition, to see Tell Tale’s Faustus clip, and most importantly, to vote, click here.

 

Review: 1984, The Kazimier

Tell Tale Theatre, for it is they, first properly came to my attention at the CUC’s Threshold Festival last month. Making the way up to the performance floor to catch a sneaky peak of Hamlet, myself and other visitors milling around could notice a pair of bratty ‘kids’ running about, followed soon after by their frantic mother in an austere, 40s-style headscarf and mac. “Have you seen my children? This is them,” the woman implored, handing out small flyers and engaging in conversation. The flyers, of course, contained the details of the production of 1984. It was already an intriguing prospect.

 

So that initial curiosity took the audience to the Kazimier, sometime performance space and nightclub in Wolstenholme Square, by Cream, for just three shows. Tell Tale is described as a “voluntary group”, and was certainly playing for an appreciative audience, possibly mainly of friends and family, for this, its first ever production. It was unclear whether that means amateur in this case – although some taking to the stage were noticably new to performing, the main cast was superb.

 

The Kazimier, a dingy hipster spot, lent itself beautifully to the vision of director Emma Smith, who moved characters around the room and away from the conventional stage space with flair. George Orwell’s classic story of Winston, one man taking on an oppressive regime – dehumanising the population in a world of constant surveillance – was lovingly accompanied by a soundtrack and film that really worked nicely to push the story forward.

 

At first I wasn’t sure of the decision to have a great deal of Winston’s inner monologue heard as a voiceover rather than spoken aloud, but I quickly warmed to this device. However, it made Jonathan Hall’s job in that lead role all the trickier, although he rose to the challenge beautifully and his was just one of many remarkable performances. Chris Carney as Winston’s saviour/ nemesis O’Brien bought a cool, frightning intensity to his role that was hard to ignore. Alan Pugh as Parsons went from happy-go-lucky joe to a man in the grip of madness. Leanne Jones, also credited as producer and assistant director, was a simply fascinating presence in several roles, from devil-child school girl to terrified prisoner.

 

That fear and aggression, you see, was all around. The show began with the menacing sound of white noise – that seems to happen a lot these days and can be rather annoying when you’re waiting for things to start, but in this case, again, it was actually rather useful. As the ensemble filed in, and began to move in time to a trip-hop beat, chanting the nonsensical slogans of Big Brother and taking part in the Two Minute Hate, right from the off this was a pretty hard watch – and it was supposed to be. The faceless regime filling its subjects with so much bile and fear immediately made the audience feel exposed and very unsettled. Uncomfortable, intense, challenging and visceral, 1984 had the cool sexiness and political edge of the savviest of Channel 4 adaptations; and although done on the tiniest of budgets, did its job well enough that it didn’t matter a jot.

 

A few technical hitches were nothing to cry about, but there might have been a debate to be had over where to place the interval. We were apologetically told upon arrival it would be an hour and 20 minutes in, with a shorter second act. And although it was perfectly understandable why – Smith waited until Winston and his lover Julia were discovered – there may have been other places that would have worked equally as well.

 

The action after that interval, though, was nothing short of harrowing. All hope is abandoned for Winston, as he winds up in a holding cell with other battered and bruised folk in the same boat, facing the death penalty for their thoughtcrimes. A scene played out throughout the performance space to convey the chaos in society all around – women raped, babies murdered, men tortured – was really quite commanding and scary. And as the guilty were dragged off to Room 101, the screams were blood-curdling, the breakdowns heartbreaking, the physicality of the production utterly convincing. I felt my hands gripping at the glass I was holding, involuntarily overcome with the tension, and could see others around me seemingly doing exactly the same.While this production wasn’t perfect, it had a naked vulnerability about it, a searing intensity, and was a work that took real guts.