Skip to main content

Flash Festival 2018: (His) Sheep by Control Theatre at St Peter's Church, Northampton

Set in a church and performed in a church, (His) Sheep from Control Theatre presents the first site-specific performance of Flash this year. The smart and stylish Pastor Stanley (Mo Samuels), sits clutching the good book, and nodding in recognition as we take our seats. Random jazz slowly fades and Pastor Stanley flys into a Billy Graham-like presentation to us, "his sheep", with his line "God is good" destined to be a force throughout the show.

(His) Sheep is an unusual piece of theatre, the story often challenging to follow, and if indeed you follow it, it has a habit of wrong-footing you with another curious swerve. At the opening, while the Pastor is preaching, a homeless guy, Kevin (Terell Oswald) lurks in a corner, laying amongst an assortment of his precious belongings, his life in a bag. He begs us for a few pieces of coinage to survive on. He also seeks the help of Stanley, who is known for being one to really help the homeless, or does he?

Later, Kevin's sister enters the situation, Victoria (Chloe Hoffmeister) is a journalist, and apparently returns, not looking for Kevin, but in pursuit of Stanley, who she is investigating. When the three worlds collide, an odd, often unsettling story, opens up. This isn't the first time also, that you get the feeling that the material you are watching, isn't truly suitable to be played out in a church.

There was a lot of physical theatre in (His) Sheep as well, which was very well performed. For myself, I did feel a couple of scenes were a tad repetitive, but the intensity of them really helped to create a foreboding atmosphere to the whole piece.

All performances are strong. Samuels cuts a fine figure and deftly manages to sweep between the Godly pastor, and his alter ego, exhibiting a real scary, intimidating performance. I was really surprised how much I enjoyed Oswald's homeless Kevin, he is a performer that hasn't really for me come to the fore previously, but not for the first time, the Flash performance delivers.

Finally, Hoffmeister presents a cold and calculating Victoria, full of inner aggression and mostly not a very nice person, trying to get what she wants. It needs to be strong, and the performance is, but I almost enjoyed the trouble she got in at the end. I apologise for that, I know it's wrong!

The idea behind (His) Sheep is great, it is definitely for me a little long, and a nice bit of pruning would have made it much more fulfilling. However, generally, quality stuff, and a brilliant ending.

Performance viewed: Tuesday 24th April 2018

The Flash Festival 2018 ran between Monday 23rd and Friday 27th April 2018 at three venues across the town.
Photos: Looking Glass Theatre

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Fawlty Towers at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

The seventies comedy series Fawlty Towers , written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, remains one of the most enduring shows of all time. While some now frown on some of the content as being politically incorrect, it is impossible to see the antics of Basil Fawlty, his wife Sybil, and his staff as anything other than stunningly clever TV comedy of the highest standard. So, when news broke that Cleese was adapting three of his most famous episodes for the stage, there was a mix of naysayers predicting failure and jubilators ready for success. As the show now rolls into Royal & Derngate as part of an extensive tour following a hugely successful London run, the naysayers have gone quiet, and the audiences are packed. For those unfamiliar with the show,  Fawlty Towers  featured inept hotel manager Basil Fawlty battling everything from corpses and rats to Germans in his campaign to create the very best hotel, despite his constant annoyance with humanity, including the guests....
Read more

Review of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Milton Keynes Theatre

There have been numerous productions of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's groundbreaking musical since it first appeared in 1968 and opened in the West End in 1973. One might wonder if there is still room for another tour. However, judging by the packed audience in Milton Keynes Theatre for the opening night of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat , much interest remains for this show. Also, with this production first seen at The London Palladium in June 2019, and with a few production elements altered, Joseph still has, after all those years, the room to change and evolve. However, the question is, does this change help or hinder the show's history? For those unfamiliar with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, it tells the story of Joseph, Jacob's favourite son, in a lighthearted and musical style that jumps between various genres. Joseph's brothers are somewhat envious of him, leading to them selling him into slavery to an Egyptian nobleman. As for ...
Read more

Review of Mary Poppins at Milton Keynes Theatre

The 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins is one of the most fondly remembered family films and has been a staple of many children's childhoods ever since its release. Adapted from P. L. Travers's book series featuring the famous nanny, it took until 2004 for the show to reach the stage, with this musical adaptation featuring a book by Julian Fellowes. The stage musical used the familiar songs from the film by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman and added new ones by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, all under the watchful eye of co-creator Cameron Mackintosh. It is safe to say that many people were involved in bringing this show to the stage. The story, of course, tells of the family Banks—father George, mother Winifred, and the tricky-to-handle children Michael and Jane. Following a job advertisement thrown into the fireplace, a nanny named Mary Poppins arrives at their home, and the Banks' family experiences a very different world than they have ever before. Touring to sele...
Read more