Pastoral

Synopsis

Moll thinks she's going on holiday but something more sinister is afoot. As menacing cats and strutting voles advance, a dangerously fertile countryside just keeps on growing - humanity is on the brink.

Latest User Review

James Reynolds - 27 April 2013:

Theatre Review: First Preview; Pastoral, Soho Theatre A brand new Magical Survival story told with wit and pathos. “They’re not scared of us anymore!” This shocking sentence about the behaviour of domesticated cats finds it’s place in Pastoral, the 2011 winner of the Verity Bargate Award which showed it’s first preview last night at The Soho Theatre. The Verity Bargate Award, such reverence in it’s title, is the biennial prize for playwriting run by the Soho Theatre in memory of it’s co-founder, the reverentially name lady above and comprises of a £5000 prize and a run in the main theatre at Soho. Written by Thomas Eccleshare, Pastoral makes no bones about it’s genre; Magical Realism. It asks; What if Nature attacked us back? “They first noticed it a few weeks ago, creeping round the war memorial and through the crack outside Subway. Just little weeds at first, little sprouts… It’s amazing how quickly they’re growing.” It is an imaginative premise with which to provide familiar survival drama. Moll (Anna Calder-Marshall) is a version of everyone’s grandmother, caught up in her council flat when Nature invades. She only has her two young lads, their relationship pointlessly unspecified, Manz and Hardy to help move her out in time. Of course they can’t get out, we knew that from seeing the set. One wonders why the Eccleshare laboured his first act when this eventuality is inevitable. Perhaps it is to give time for Calder-Marshall to deliver her amusing tirades about obesity, ‘I wouldn’t want to have sexual intercourse with a fat’, and hen nights, ‘What’s the difference between a hen night and a zoo?’ The material is funny and it’s brilliantly performed, but it being the only part of the production to break the forth results in the feeling that it is a stand up extract wedged into the real, if fantastical, world. Of all the dialogue, which in the most part is quick, witty and genuine, it is young Arthur’s pertinent questions to Moll that interest most. Polly Frame captures youthful curiosity, innocence and mischievousness naturally and Calder-Marshall balances the ideas and leads the tempo beautifully. Descriptions of different plant and animal types affecting different high street shops draw guaranteed laughs in the first act, but repeated ad nauseum they lose their edge. The introduction of a gun into any play is so difficult. Here unfortunately its appearance to inevitable use erects plot point signs in multi-coloured neon. Although the writing may be imaginative and humorous, the weaknesses do raise questions of whether this play employs too many old tricks to be considered a great piece of new writing. Other good performances come from Richard Riddell as military survival man, Bill Fellows’ Ocado deliveryman monologue and Carrie Rock’s cameo as a bride to be. Most disappointing is Hugh Skinner, who has shown talent in other productions, but who cannot lead the production, as his character should. He carries his big frame awkwardly on stage, attacks punch lines with desperation and is content with the same tactic throughout. The other star of the piece is the stage design. It is clear that the writer’s imagination far exceeded the budget available. That is as it should be and Michael Vale has done a remarkable job with what was available. Nature truly does encroach on the world and with some imagination, which should be no problem for a theatre audience, we feel as though a branch may just be about to grow between our legs. The gasp moment? Daisies plant themselves in the floor by way of darts dropped from the rafters. The only failing; the stage disintegrates with rather alarming noises and this leaves the audience worried more about Health and Safety than the incoming Envirogeddon. Apart from a few moments of military line-ups on stage the direction (Steve Marmion) is solid, providing both the time for intense moments and the pace to get through what is quite an ambitious 90min show in one sitting. The music is, as is the trend in productions both good and bad, blatantly emotionally manipulative and though the light has the same objective, it has a far more deft touch. Should you see this play? Absolutely! It’s funny, thought provoking and occasionally moving. It asks you to employ your imagination and revels in the tricks of the theatre. Moreover it is a new work, brave and charming. It may be too humorous and fantastical for it’s darker elements to really hit home, but you will imagine trees growing out of Tesco on the way home. ...

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