Skip to main content

Review of Flash Festival 2019: A Splice Of Life by Ripple Ensemble at Castle Hill URC

Ripple Ensemble's A Splice of Life opens very traditionally and innocently, a couple coming together, moving in, setting out on their life adventure. It's all very cosy, and of course, we know this isn't destined to continue like this. Our couple Kate and Mark are struggling to have children, so much so they end up on rounds of IVF. With this failing to work before the money runs out, a rather intriguing proposition is put to them via a medical trial into genetics.

This results in Kate and Mark building a baby, years later to become the grown-up Sophie. Added to the family is adopted Luke, and the slightly less nimble Kate with creaking bones, and the now greyed Mark now appear to have the perfect family. Sophie is heading towards the Olympics, and Luke has followed the artistic nature of Kate. All is well until a chance discovery changes events dramatically.

A Splice of Life's brilliant theatre, always intriguing, with never a dull moment. Kit Wiles and Ryan Greendale are exceptional as Kate and Mark, this is a real relationship depicted, believable and heartbreaking at times. It is just so brilliantly conceived and written, with some stunning silent moments of just physical interaction.

The children at times take a backseat, and Tim Medcalf's Luke is never really given enough to do other than to be wisecracking. However, his sparring with sister Sophie (Meredith Barnett) is always great fun.

However, there is one single scene that sets A Splice Of Life apart from many a Flash show, and that is the confrontation between Sophie and her father. Here, Greendale and Barnett are at their very best, performing an almost perfectly scripted piece. A bitterness running through them both, but still, love showing the most. This is a cruel scene of emotions that is truly affecting, I know I was, some tremendous power of acting here on show. It also is dissipated in an incredibly brilliant moment of comedy. A rollercoaster scene indeed, and here Barnett is particularly stunning.

There is a lot of moral stuff going on in A Splice of Life, again as always with a Flash show, much to think about. However, most important of all, while it was happening, it was just tremendously entertaining. A real cracker!

Performance viewed: Thursday 4th April 2019

The Flash Festival 2019 ran until Sunday 7th April 2019 at venues across the town.
Details here: Flash Festival 2019
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Beauty and the Beast at Castle Theatre, Wellingborough

The Castle Theatre Wellingborough this year sees the home of Beauty and the Beast as its seasonal pantomime, and what a fabulously entertaining show it is. Hiding away from the big star names, Parkwood Theatres & Castle Theatre has assembled a talented bunch of performers to bring this tale “as old as time” to the stage. Produced and directed by Martin Cleverley once again, back from previous years' pantos, the show relies very much on characters rather than showy visuals. Taking full advantage of a French setting, the puns flow freely, including to the characters, with names such as Danon and Djon thrown into the mustard pot (very much intended) of puns. Aura Mitchell and Kaysee Craine lead our cast of characters as the title characters of Beauty and the Beast (also known as Prince Pierre). While they do play second fiddle, as is the norm for a panto, to the additional comic characters, they form a charming partnership. Returning to the role of panto dame from last year'...
Read more

Review of Mog's Christmas at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Back in 2022, the theatre group The Wardrobe Ensemble created a sweet and adventurous staging of Judith Kerr's classic children's character, Mog - The Forgetful Cat . For this Christmas season at Royal & Derngate, Mog returns with, suitably enough, Mog's Christmas . The show, just a crisp, action-packed hour, retells two past adventures alongside a Christmas vignette. Kerr's Mog first appeared in 1970, and it launched a remarkable run of books over 50 years featuring the puzzled feline, culminating in the final book released in 2020, following Kerr's death at 95 in 2019. Kerr is most famous for one of her other tales, The Tiger Who Came to Tea . However, in Mog's Christmas , the show presents three entertaining little stories featuring her other, slightly lesser-known feline character. Over the course of the hour, we see Mog successfully foil a burglar, survive a trip to the V.E.T., and then, in the brand-new stage story, a Christmas adventure where Mog gets...
Read more

Review of The All New Adventures of Peter Pan at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

For theatres across the land, it's that time of year again. The time when the theatres fill with screaming children and a ridiculous amount of sugar intake and trips to the toilet. Yes, it is panto time, and before you say it, oh yes it is. This year, for the Royal & Derngate, it is time for a trip to Neverland (or Forever Land, that is, but more on that later) and a magical adventure with Peter Pan and the dastardly Captain Hook. Once again, following hugely successful previous runs, Evolution Productions brings this tale to the stage in 2025. And it has to be said, once again, they strike panto gold with The All New Adventures of Peter Pan , with a constantly lively, brilliantly colourful and awkwardly funny production that, as always with Evolution, is totally family friendly. Over the years here, Evolution and writer Paul Hendy have created the essence of pantomime (which just so happens to link to the tale within this story). Keeping all the traditions intact, a ghostly be...
Read more