Skip to main content

A second take on No Way Back by Frantic Assembly at the The Core, Corby

I wrote my first review of No Way Back on site in the bar at the Core Theatre and it was a relatively rushed affair. This show however deserved better (or as better as I am able to write anyway). Therefore I now write again a few days after seeing the show twice, reflecting on its contents in a greater way. As it is a show of personal decisions and deep thoughts, this is perhaps appropriate. Without going into too much detail, I have to say that some of the personal material and thoughts portrayed in the stories told within this play resonated deeply with me at this time. Mid life crisis or not, there is indeed as the title tells us No Way Back.

Through a series of inter-weaved scenes, stories are told of dating issues, birth of children, an accident prone life and body image thoughts. For the audience at the Core, I doubt that there was anyone that could not relate in some way to the tales told. For those that said not, they were probably kidding themselves. This was indeed the strength of this piece from Frantic Assembly, the way that it could inhabit the brain unlike many other plays you may have seen. Yes, at the base of the show was Frantic's renowned physical performance style, however hiding between this was true life laid bare.

Whether the performers were telling us their own personal stories, or relating others in the company, These we were told life experiences of the cast members and at all times were told with power and dedication. So we had the strong tale of a young lady becoming a mother, realised through words and a powerful choreographed piece with one of the performers portraying the baby hanging in its sling. Then we had a wonderful warts and all description of a lady and her mirror made by Sally Harris, working through all the stresses of the body changing through age, but also actually being comfortable with the situation. An affinity to an elephant indeed. A line that went down spectacularly well.

Sam Gooding's tale of just being a magnet to the ladies is probably one of the funniest parts of what is often a serious show. However even when it is serious (as it should be with material covered), it always has a winning, fun edge made by the quality of the performers. As a mostly movement based show, there is at all times a tremendous amount of trust required upon one another. Many of the scenes move so quickly, especially with the fast paced scenes which involve the swinging and pushing of clothes racks, leaves elements of danger if anyone is to get things wrong. There is, despite just two and a half weeks of rehearsal and preparation, a huge level of professionalism on show during this performance.

I mentioned the magnificent Maureen Gallacher in my first review and it would be unwise not to mention the lady again as it is amazing how much of the show and performers work seems to bounce off the lady. I can only imagine how important to them she was during the preparation and during the Q&A, it was indeed hinted at. She is part of the best scenes of the production, from the scene I called her rage scene with the clever floor light through to the magnificent mirror image scene of the younger and elder confrontations. Even at the very end scene of the show, when Lisa Shepherd does her slow power walk amid the hive of activity from all the other performers, there is a touching fleeting moment between the two. It is true that you can see special in people from afar, and I think Maureen is definitely one of those people.

So a magnificent show created by a unique company with some wonderful local performers. It is fitting that Frantic Assembly made this show in their home town, however I feel that if they ever got the chance or indeed time, this would be a fromat that could truly translate to anywhere and if that ever was to happen, the audiences and indeed the performers would be in for a true heartwarming treat.


Performance reviewed: Friday 10th (evening), 2015 at The Core, Corby.

No Way Back was performed between Thursday 9th July and Friday 10th July, 2015 at The Core, Corby. Details here: 
https://www.thecorecorby.com/Productions/2015-2016/225704/FANWB

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Hacktivists by Ben Ockrent performed by R&D Youth Theatre at Royal & Derngate (Underground), Northampton

The National Theatres Connections series of plays had been one of my highlights of my trips to R&D during 2014. Their short and snappy single act style kept them all interesting and never overstaying their welcome. So I was more than ready for my first encounter with one of this years Connections plays ahead of the main week of performances at R&D later in the year. Hacktivists is written by Ben Ockrent, whose slightly wacky but socially relevant play Breeders I had seen at St James Theatre last year. Hacktivists is less surreal, but does have a fair selection of what some people would call odd. Myself of the other hand would very much be home with them. So we are presented with thirteen nerdy "friends" who meet to hack, very much in what is termed the white hat variety. This being for good, as we join them they appear to have done very little more than hacked and created some LED light device. Crashing in to spoil the party however comes Beth (Emma-Ann Cranston)...

Review of Bat Out of Hell - The Musical at Milton Keynes Theatre

This tour of Bat Out of Hell - The Musical has become sadly a double-tribute as it tours throughout the UK into 2023 and the love of its creator Jim Steinman, and the man who made his work world-famous, Meat Loaf, both lost in the last year, runs through the cast in this impressive version of the show. The storyline of Bat Out of Hell takes the Peter Pan idea and warps it into a dystopian world of a group of youth known as The Lost trapped forever at 18 years of age. The centre of this group is Strat, who, after a chance encounter, becomes under the spell of Raven. Of course, into this mix must come a megalomaniac, as all dystopian worlds really need. This is the father of Raven, Falco, who, with his wife Sloane, battle The Lost, Raven’s relationship with Strat, and indeed their own very bizarre relationship, to the backdrop of Steinman’s music. Bat Out of Hell doesn’t start particularly well, be it the performance or a show issue, for the first twenty minutes there is a lack of clarit...

Review of My Mother's Funeral: The Show at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

The title My Mother's Funeral: The Show is perhaps not the most attractive title for a theatre show, however, this show had great success at the Edinburgh Fringe and now arriving at Royal & Derngate, one of its co-producing theatres, so, let's look beyond the unusual title and see what lies beneath. Abigail is a theatre dramatist pursuing plays that the theatres no longer want. Her "gay bugs in space" saga falls foul of being fiction for a start, something a theatre director states audiences no longer want stating they want gritty, real experiences, theatre with painful truths. So, after Abigail devastatingly loses her mother and finds no money to pay the funeral fees, she pursues the creation of a very personal theatre show. My Mother's Funeral: The Show is gritty and sad, but, also in many ways very funny, if in a dark way. Writer Kelly Jones digs deep into the world of poverty in Dagenham and countless estates across the country. A world of people born in...