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

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Murder She Didn't Write at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Murder She Didn't Write , stopping off for a four-day run at Royal & Derngate on a lengthy UK tour, treads the now well-worn path of an improvisational evening of theatre entertainment. Unsurprisingly, from the title, this show from Degrees of Error's takes a murder mystery as its inspiration, with the story influenced by ideas from the audience each evening. Due to this, Murder She Didn't Write and a review are very much an individual affair. What I saw in my evening at the theatre will differ significantly from what the audience will see the following evening; however, the fine performers will remain. The touring cast, in no particular order, is Lizzy Skrzypiec, Rachael Procter-Lane, Peter Baker, Caitlin Campbell, Stephen Clements, Douglas Walker, Harry Allmark, Rosalind Beeson, Sylvia Bishop, Emily Brady, Alice Lamb, Sara Garrard, Peta Maurice and Matthew Whittle. For my performance, Skrzypiec, Procter-Lane, Baker, Walker, Bishop, and Clements were on stage alongsid...

Review of Immune by R&D Youth Theatre at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

The cover note for the script of Oladipo Agboluaje's Immune describes it as "a challenging science fiction play with a large cast", and the word challenging in this case is not a lie. This is a fast paced, multi-cast changing script which leaves little room for error for its young cast in the performance. If the script isn't enough to handle for the young performers, director Christopher Elmer-Gorry and designer Carl Davies have made the situation even more complex for the actors with the set and stage work. Having to manhandle great panels on wheels and a huge cube, which also splits in two occasionally, during scene changes requires skill, coordination and cooperation of a high level. As if all this is not enough, the actual story is epic enough for the relatively small stage of the Royal. Attempting to form an apocalyptic world (albeit only happening in Plymouth) offers challenges in itself, but Agboluaje's script does that in a sort of apocalypse in the teac...

Review of Only Fools and Horses - The Musical at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

The classic BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses , created by John Sullivan and running for 22 years, holds a fond spot in the hearts of many. Even if you are not a fan, most are slightly familiar with the exploits of wheeler-dealer Del Boy and his lanky brother Rodney. However, who could think this could be the subject of a hit musical? Well, it turns out that Paul Whitehouse and Jim Sullivan, the son of the original writer, did, and it has to be said, in Del Boy lingo, it's proper lovely jubbly! Bringing iconic characters to the stage that the same actors have played for so many years presents a challenge to any performer; however, without exception, director Caroline Jay Ranger and her team have assembled a stellar cast. Leading the action is, of course, Derek "Del Boy" Trotter, played by Sam Lupton with all the energy and wideboy manner of the legendary David Jason. Lupton looks the part, sounds the part, even, of course, in song, but even manages to add his own charm to ...