Skip to main content

Review of Aftermath by Daniel Bye at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

For me the inventiveness and emotional power of Aftermath was encapsulated in its opening and closing scenes. They formed the solid bread of the delightful meat within. The opening also allowed the newly emerged "Immerse" section of the R&D Youth Company to do very much that. It was a neat trick to open the play with, and I think genuinely confused a few members of the audience.

However it worked very well at drawing the audience into this tale of several characters personal lives, and their experiences of the First World War, both at home and on the front. The disillusioned youth being preached upon by the elderly was also the perfect moment for the youth and actors company to merge together. Huge credit must go to writer Daniel Bye who with wit and powerful intent has created a fine play from a collection of local stories (much as he did when I pursued him round town with an umbrella for Story Hunt last year). While at the same time shoehorning in "pop group" jokes and digs at emotion pulling Christmas ads, as well as a bawdy act of old. For the youth part, I am not sure whether they speak like this, but it feels real, especially their disinterest of the past. If its not a current status update, why indeed should they be bothered?

The post show talk on the evening revealed that most of the stories had come from the actors themselves and the play had evolved through their groups instead of writer just presenting the finished product to a cast. It gave it a more free form earthy feel, but also maybe explained the apparent episodic feel. It worked though and thanks to the vivid spectacle that director Rebecca Frecknall bought to proceedings, it looked good as well. This despite the fact that the set was generally just chairs. We were still transported into a wood of trees with chairs swaying to the breeze before being pummeled in the latest onslaught of battle. There was also the most glorious scenes depicting the posting of those wartime letters. A musical and movement piece that was a delight upon the eye.

So we traveled to France via boot and shoe factory and Racecourse barracks, and the youth of today traveled with us. We traveled together as one to that very final scene that hit with an emotional punch to the gut. A truly sad and powerful moment, that told us quite rightly to not miss the opportunity to learn these stories. We all know that our chance to listen first hand the tales of the First World War has gone, but we all still have that chance from the Second. They are still here and their story must be listened to and told. In the meantime, go and listen to this story being told. I doubt that you will regret it.


Performance reviewed: Thursday 12th February, 2015 at the Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton.

Aftermath by the Royal & Derngate Actors Company and Youth Company (Immerse) runs until Saturday 14th February. Details can be found at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/whatson/2015-2016/Royal/Aftermath

For further details about the Royal & Derngate visit their website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/

Popular posts from this blog

Northampton Theatre Preview - September 2016

With the Summer downtime coming to an end for the theatres of Northampton, the curtain is ready to rise again on a new season of shows in the town. Top pick at Royal & Derngate has to be the return of the hit adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Tale Of Two Cities. Adapted by Mike Poulton and directed by the R&D artistic directer James Dacre, this version first seen in 2014 plays for seven nights in the Royal before setting off on a national tour. Dates in Northampton are Saturday 10th to Saturday 17th with matinees on Wednesday, Thursday and the second Saturday. For those wanting to revisit the turbulant times of the 1989 political world, there is a chance to see Jonathan Maitland's touring Dead Sheep. Telling the story of the ramifications of Geoffrey Howe's sacking at the hands of PM Margaret Thatcher and her eventual downfall at the hands of this "dead sheep". It stars Steve Nallon, Paul Bradley and Graham Seed and runs at the Royal & Derngate be...

Review of Rambert Dance in Peaky Blinders - The Redemption of Thomas Shelby at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

The Rambert Dance Company is the oldest such company in Britain having first performed in 1926. However, despite this, this was my first encounter with the group in my ten years of theatre-going. Coupled with this, it was also my first encounter with Peaky Blinders , having never seen the show, and only knowing a few vague things about it. My companion for the evening however was very familiar with the show, allowing some background behind the show. It turns out though,  Rambert Dance in Peaky Blinders - The Redemption of Thomas Shelby needs a little more than a good bit of knowledge of the show, as despite this production having incredible style, there struggles to be a cohesive structure to the show and the storytelling. Much more than other dance shows as well. The first act does a whistle-stop tour of the first five seasons and while it is a feast on the eye, and on the ear, it gets extremely confusing at times. The second act is freestyle and drifts away from the stories tol...

Camden Fringe Review: FEET by Emma And Lawrence Wrote A Play at Etcetera Theatre, London

While some issue plays tend to miss the point of providing fun and entertainment as well as making their point on a relevant issue, FEET is certainly not one of them. Written, produced, directed and performed by the two-person team of Emma And Lawrence Wrote A Play, this is clearly a labour of love of the two, full names Emma Brown and Lawrence Smith, it is fun and engaging throughout. It's "issue" is loosely about selling your body for money or art and how far you might be willing to push it. Lucy Winwood (Emma Brown) is your typical young actress, struggling hard to get those money making roles, or roles in general, and in need of money she stumbles upon the world of feet fetishism (as you, of course, would) and slowly from just images of her feet sold online, it becomes feet in jelly and then finally personal meetings with clients for full on feet interaction. The path that FEET takes is that is this denigration of your body in selling your feet actually worse than...