Skip to main content

Review of DNA by University of Northampton BA Actors at Jacksons Lane Theatre, Highgate, London

The final year performances of BA Actors this year upped sticks and headed away from their Northampton Royal territory and gathered to show their skills in London.

The first of the three shows being performed was Dennis Kelly's DNA, a play which I saw performed on the Royal stage itself four years ago. I enjoyed it for its dark mysterious nature and was looking forward to seeing a different interpretation of the show. It tells the tale of a group of youngsters who do something really bad, and proceed to attempt to cover it up, resulting in the real bad, well, getting more bad. It's dark yes, but also, very funny at times.

It opens with a looming movement piece of theatre, which I always love and this was no different for me, brooding and sinister. It's quite a long opening, which perhaps, in the end, becomes too long, but it's a fabulous piece of theatre for me. It set's the scene very well for Kelly's dark piece to unfold and in the hands of these, about to graduate actors, it was a delight of staging and performance.


Perhaps in the performances, there is no better here than Tiffany Mae
Rivers' Leah, never wanting to leave an unfilled silence in the air, she spouts endlessly to the mostly silent, but incredibly brainy Phyl (played with a delicious disregard for everything by Maddy Ogedengbe). They are a very fine double-act, with Rivers at the top of her game here, in an incredibly captivating performance, filled with some incredible comic timing. The waffle scene, in particular, is once again proven to be an amazingly brilliant scene, superbly played.


It's vital that this partnership works, because despite this being a large ensemble piece, they are the driving factor of the play, with brilliant linking scenes, and the character of Phyl creating the framework of the events to take place, once the lightbulb moment is ignited.

Elsewhere, I really enjoyed Amelia Renard as the endlessly entertaining character of Danni, desperate to not be involved due to damaging her
prospect of becoming a dentist. Her sparring with the equally brilliant Zoe Elizabeth as the very hostile Rikki, was tremendously entertaining.

Stepping into the key role of Bryony at short notice is Katie Lawson (doubling up with a role in The Crucible at the same time). She captures this character, who descends into mud eating breakdown amazingly well, given the time she had to prepare. It is a tremendous shame, however, that the captivating Elizabeth Ferreira, originally cast, was not able to take part in the end, as this was a role made for her nervy, quirky style.

Director Anthony Houghton adds a nice flair to the production and gets a tremendous amount out of his cast. I really liked the three-pronged removal of the swing, which despite it definitely not going smoothly more than a couple of times (mind your head!), was definitely a great idea.

I like DNA, it's a fabulously little dark one-act play, written brilliantly and delivered with an absorbing pace by this cast. Excellent work.

Performance reviewed: Thursday 7th June, 2018 at Jacksons Lane Theatre, Highgate, London

DNA was one of three shows performed at Jacksons Lane Theatre by the University Of Northampton BA (Hons) Actors from Thursday 7th to Saturday 9th June 2018.

Details of Jacksons Lane can be found by visiting their website at https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/

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 Bat Out Of Hell - The Musical at Milton Keynes Theatre

Bat Out of Hell - The Musical was first realised as a stage musical back in 2017, opening at the Manchester Opera House. Since then, it has achieved significant international success. Now, as part of a new UK tour, it has returned to Milton Keynes Theatre, which it previously visited in 2022 during its global tour. The storyline of Bat Out of Hell , written by Jim Steinman, draws on the story of Peter Pan as a basis and evolves it within a dystopian world, where a group of teenagers known as The Lost live forever at the age of 18. This plot is both flimsy and initially confusing; however, within the music of Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman, it finds a rough-around-the-edges polish that allows this weakness to shine through and succeed. At the centre of this group of teenagers is Strat, who, following an unexpected encounter, falls under the spell of Raven. Within this, a megalomaniac lurks, as all dystopian worlds require. This maniac is Falco, the father of Raven and Sloane's husband....

Review of The Rocky Horror Show at Milton Keynes Theatre

Richard O’Brien’s anarchic, surreal, and often incomprehensible musical, The Rocky Horror Show , has captivated audiences for over fifty years now. With this new tour, it feels as fresh and unpredictable as if it had just emerged from O’Brien's vivid imagination yesterday. While another review might seem unnecessary given the countless dressed-up fans who fill every theatre it visits, let’s go ahead and write one anyway. The Rocky Horror Show follows the adventures of Brad and Janet, a newly engaged couple. On a dark and stormy November evening, they run into car trouble and seek refuge at a mysterious castle reminiscent of Frankenstein’s. There, they encounter the eccentric handyman Riff-Raff, the outrageous scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter, and a host of other bizarre characters. What unfolds is a science fiction B-movie narrative that is at times coherent and at other times bewildering — yet somehow, that doesn’t seem to matter. I first saw The Rocky Horror Show in 2019 and exper...