Tales of Vomit, Trash and Broken Glass
★★★☆☆ Ambitious
theSpace on the Mile (Venue 39): Sun 7 – Sat 27 Aug 2022 (odd dates)
Review by Hugh Simpson
Tales of Vomit, Trash and Broken Glass, from New Celts and Not So Nice! at theSpace on the Mile, has endless ambition. The result does not always convince, but always engrosses.
Cosette Bolt and Nathan Samuel Young portray a series of couples in Kira Mason’s play, set during and after a time when a deadly toxin has contaminated the air and destroyed society.
Cosette Bolt and Nathan Samuel Young. Pic: Not so Nice!
Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of all concerned, the various couples are not carefully enough differentiated. This is not helped by deliberate echoes and call-backs to earlier scenes, which only serve to muddy the waters. One scene being played several times in slightly different ways is a clever enough idea, but once again the alterations are too small, and it merely frustrates.
This means that the strength of the original idea is dissipated, and while individual elements impress, there is a definite lack of coherence. Interestingly, the scenes of smaller dramas, such as the irritations and annoyances of close relationships, work better than the bigger ideas.
give every scene their all
The usual problems with end-of-the-world dramas crop up; leaving it so vague as to exactly what is killing everyone or why, is more exasperating than clever. A sequence about the breakdown of language has that time-honoured problem – if people have forgotten everyday adjectives, how are they able to describe them using far more complicated words and concepts?
Bolt and Young give every scene their all, however, investing each character with humour and humanity.
Director Grace Baker keeps things flowing, with the staging constantly inventive. All of the elements mentioned in the title are certainly present on stage, and represented with real imagination. Elements of BSL are also used, in a production that may not always succeed but certainly wants for nothing in ambition.
Running time: One hour 15 minutes (no interval)
theSpace on the Mile (Space 3), 80 High St, EH1 1TH (Venue 39)
Sunday 7 – Saturday 27 August 2022 (odd dates only)
Odd dates only: 15:05
Information and tickets: Book here.
Company website: https://www.notsonicetheatrecompany.com
Instagram: @notsonicetheatre
Facebook: @notsonicetheatre
Twitter: @NotSoNiceCo
Cosette Bolt and Nathan Samuel Young. Pic: Not so Nice!
ENDS
