Synopsis This is Rachael and Lisa. Take a look. A good look. Imagine they approached you in a pub or a shopping centre or the foyer of a theatre and said, "If we were in a show - what kind of show would it be? What characters would we play? What would the story be?" What do you think you would say? Maybe they did ask you. Maybe you told them. Maybe they thought it was great and that is what the show will be about tonight. Running time: approx 75mins witn no interval Maria
With a pop up hat, waistcoat and knowingly jaunty wink, Lisa Hammond dances around the stage belting out the annoyingly catchy lyrics to "Cheeky Face".
It’s a Dickensian song and dance number and a direct response to people’s attitudes towards Hammond as a disabled and restricted growth actor. Wacky and at points hilarious, "Cheeky Face" is the perfect marker of a show which explores attitudes towards disability whilst being steeped in Hammond and friend and collaborator Rachel Spence’s dry humour.
With a desire to work together on a show but a drought of inspiration, Hammond and Spence asked the general public what kind of play they would put them in. The answers, here mimicked with magnificent comic flare by the two whilst listening to the actual interviews on iPods, form the basis of No Idea – an exploration of both disability and friendship.
Directed and co-devised by Improbable’s Lee Simpson, the result is a rich series of post-modern meditations that skate through big and painful issues with healthy dollops of rye comedy. The interplay between Hammond and Spence is delightful and their comic timing is always spot on.
Encased in a utilitarian style of performance and setting (office blinds and Velcro walls) the sketches and ideas occasionally feel repetitive but there are enough moments of surreal inspiration to pull the piece back on course. Spence’s happy couple montage is a wonder and Hammond’s desperate and vulnerable Jack Nicholson (yep Jack Nicholson) impression hits the perfect balance of an emotional and political rant that avoids being worthy.
Made up of the direct expression of statements, feelings and observations No Idea is all the more potent for its simplicity. Without preaching Hammond and Spence are directly asking us questions about our attitudes and expectations, not only towards disability but of society’s idea of ‘normality’ as a whole. They’re also incredibly funny, charming and original; I left the theatre humming "Cheeky Face" and feeling thoughtful, but smiling.
Fantastic. Completely original. Impossible to classify.
I was invited by a friend and dutifully attended with an open mind but absolutely no idea what I was in for.
30 seconds in and I wondered what the hell I had done...
5 minutes in and I was completely transfixed.
I laughed for pretty much the remainder of the show.
Genius.
Please go and see this play. If only to experience the comic joy of "Cheeky Face" (Warning: you WILL find yourself singing it the next day in public... [well, at least I did.])
I personally have never written a review for anything I've been to see in London but I was so pleasantly surprised by this performance that I felt the least I could do was take 5 minutes to spread the word.
Go catch it before it's gone. - I.B.
24 Jul 10
This is an 85 minute gem! Two performers went out and asked the public what they should produce a play about and then asked them to create the story as a sort of ‘chain play’. The resulting piece tells the story of the process and stages the ideas and the play. It’s really hard to describe the result; all I can say is that it’s original, inventive and very funny. I smiled for almost all of the 80 minutes running time and at the end I felt uplifted. It does ask you to examine attitudes to disability but does it so cleverly that it makes you think without ever becoming an ‘issue’ play. It feels like an Improbable show so I’m sure Lee Simpson’s direction has played its part in creating something that is so consistently entertaining and thought-provoking, with just a handful of props, but the personalities and friendship of performers Lisa Hammond and Rachael Spence is crucial to the piece and their charm and their chemistry is the key to its success. Don’t try to categorise it, just go and enjoy it for what it is. - Gareth James
[TMA] member. 2004 - to close for an estimated 18 to 24 months to undergo an essential overhaul costing £12.5 million. Re-opened Oct. 2006 with the new auditoria named in honour of two theatre women, designer Maria Bjornson and director Clare Venables who died in 2002 and 2003 respectively. The Maria seats 160 while the Clare seats 80.
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