Kyra’s programme shows she is also the writer, producer, director, stage designer, digital content creator social media co-ordinator and all-round hype-man. 

Sam Baxter on lighting, plus sound and music from bands and artists from the North. 

This performance took place in The King’s Arms, Salford, under the dome of the upstairs theatrical space. The stage is empty apart from a small desk, with the all-important envelope, and a covered flipchart. 

The opening is designed to appear that the actor has forgotten the time of performance and is caught out, unprepared, in bath hat and snoopy fleece. This leads to a very funny stream-of-consciousness revealing of her chronic lateness with brave and funny jokes that set the tone of openness. There is a comical anecdote about missing the Eurostar and ending up in Blackpool instead of Paris – which is almost the same ‘except for the greasy fingers and fake tits.’ 

A quick change introduces the ‘proper’ show and Isobella launches straight into the punchy, comic material that is her family. There are lots of excellent jokes here so I need to avoid giving too many spoilers, but the jokes about Veet and her dad trying to explain sanitary protection got lots of laughs. All the ‘Dad’ jokes were funny and we enjoyed the well-intentioned, traditional father-figure who inadvertently quotes the life-lessons from RuPaul. 

Isobella’s excellently paced routines are interspersed with her returning to the table to contemplate opening her letter from the university – a letter that could potentially change the direction of her life. She teases her audience by constantly putting off the reveal whilst she considers her options. She uses the full stage effectively and her flipchart is utilised for listing her positives and negatives 

Kyra’s script is brave, and the transitions between emotional extremes are handled expertly. The descriptions of Isobella’s mother’s suicide – and its after-effects – are moving, credible and very sensitively dealt with. In less experienced hands it could prove difficult to switch tone so quickly and effectively but Kyra navigates the return to humour with ease. One quick move across the stage to the flipchart and we are entertained by the comical origins of the siblings’ names. 

After a consideration of her family’s different responses to losing her to university (Dad gives her a Christmas stocking containing a stun gun and pepper spray) Isobella realises that she needs to consider her own opinions. What does she want to risk? Looking back at her life so far, she concludes that we are largely unable to control what happens to us; we can only control how we deal with the aftermath. 

The play runs for thirty minutes and I think we would have all happily watched for longer. Throughout the performance, Kyra remains in complete command of all her material, the pathos, the sensitivities, and the belly laughs. She conducts these with ease. The audience interactions were natural and unforced, and her pace was pitch perfect. 

I cannot tell you what we learn about the content of her envelope; that would be too much of a spoiler. But I, for one, was very happy with the play’s conclusion. It also leaves open the possibility of a sequel. Whether Kyra has one planned or not, I don’t know. But I don’t doubt will be hearing a lot more from this charismatic and highly watchable performer in the future. 

Josephine Galvin

The post It Is What It Is – Performed by Kyra Scott 26/27th July 2024 appeared first on Manchester Theatre Academy.

One-man plays present an enormous challenge – unless you’re Andrew Scott or Jodie Comer – yet since Covid we have seen a significant rise in the number of productions and certainly in quality. 

To entertain alone you have to have the energy of a stand-up comedian, the character versatility of a Shakespearean actor, simple portable props, complementary soundtracks – and, of course, an excellent director. 

It also helps if you have something additional and quirky.

Tides, written and performed by Joe Dennis and directed by Will Sutherland, makes full use of all these elements. On entering the auditorium at Salford Arts Theatre, we discovered many wacky and comical cartoon drawings pinned around. Not only were they all over the stage, they were also up the aisle and blue-tacked to the back of seats. I wished I’d gone to my seat earlier, to have time to appreciate them all, rather than lingering in the bar! 

These drawings set the scene of the inner life of our character, Dylan Ward. 

Without giving too many spoilers, Dylan charts his life from birth to adulthood; he deals with challenges that life throws at almost all of us but he portrays them through the specific viewpoint and challenges of autism. 

From the opening scene, with ‘I wish I was special’ soundtrack, we see his birth as a simplistic illustration and we watch as he lines up his action figures in specific order. He seems to be a contented child within the security of home and he clearly has a loving family. But early sensory overload issues start to show and then, of course, he has to venture out into the challenges of school. 

From here, whilst navigating the different stages of growing up, a David Attenborough- style voice-over observes Ryan’s own behaviours as an anthropological study. I really enjoyed this meta-technique especially as Ryan makes comments on it himself. 

As Ryan, Joe has excellent physical and vocal command of the stage – and audience concentration during this hour-long performance never falters. He is at his best at characters. The Mighty Oak, an array of other teachers, friends and employers are beautifully captured, believable, and entertaining. These are ably assisted by director, Will, whose half-face drawings bring a comic and credible touch.

With minimal costume, Joe excellently depicts the physicality of each developmental stage. As an audience, we laughed in empathy and recognition. Some of the situations are extremely poignant. I held my breath for Ryan when he waited for a prospective girlfriend to make up her mind. Having been unable to decipher her polite initial brush-off, he had taken her literally at her word. 

It is a measure of our engagement that we could feel our characters’ pain in so many situations; for me, it was the group work situation at university that really unearthed some buried horrors of my own.

The call centre scene was laugh-out-loud, from his cross-eyed eyed boss to his truthful way of reacting to awkward customers when their requests ‘Literally don’t make sense.’ In the workplace, however, explaining about his autism saves his job initially, as thankfully, companies are now required to support employees with communication difficulties. 

It is all credit to how involved we were as an audience that when Ryan receives the dreadful news of his mother’s death, we all sat in complete silence with him.

The final scene is positive, as he packs up his characters and chooses to display the illustration of a smiling young man. His mother’s voice is always with him and he is secure in the love his parents gave him. And, hopefully, the world he lives in is now more equipped to understand some of autism’s complexities. 

It one point in the play, Dylan says that autism is his superpower. But for Joe Dennis, his superpower is clearly his talent to entertain. 

Josephine Galvin for Manchester Theatre Academy.

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A brave and inspiring piece of theatre

A warm buzzing atmosphere welcomed us into The Peer Hat for the final performance of ‘Totally Trucked’, part of this year’s Greater Manchester Fringe Festival. This was my first visit to this intimate venue, accompanied by theatre buddy and drama graduate Alice Galvin; we both agreed it wouldn’t be our last.

Totally Trucked is an autobiographical piece written and performed by Katie Damer herself; using comedy contrasting with pathos, as a vehicle to tell her story about living with ‘Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome’ and how it has affected her life.

From the outset, the talented writer and performer, Katie Damer reels us in, taking us back to those hazy teenage years, when all you wanted was to grab a bit more kip, turn the alarm off and make it to school in the nick of time; a time of raging hormones: first kisses and pushing the boundaries, it all resonates with us, and we laugh along, captivated by her every word. 

Katie then time shifts and  flawlessly feeds us the events that changed her life, the events that left her ever grasping for a normal teenage life once more.  Katie- during a health kick -was riding her bike when a truck hit her, mangling her bike beneath its wheel. We are there with her in the moment, so skillful is her storytelling and use of space. 

With a raucous gritty retelling of moments in her life- her ‘slag phase’, ‘losing her virginity’, her love of vodka and living it large, Katie has the audience in fits of laughter, making the plunges into sadness and PTSD even more poignant, revealing the ups and downs of her life- when she was told, she would suffer chronic pain for the rest of her life, even wheelchair bound.

Music and sound effects compliment the piece well, providing dialogue for the scenes with the therapist and answerphone message from her Mum as Katie finally attempts to take her own life. This all adds to the emotion, the drama and the comedy. The stage is simply set with a chair and a projector but we imagine every scene and it’s visually interesting because Katie owns the stage with her physical presence, like when she loses the use of her arm in Nandos and Curtis has to cut up her chicken.

Tackling the subject of teenage mental health and the pressures on young people, Katie takes us on a roller coaster ride of emotions when as well as her own experience, she tells of her close friends at drama school, falling victim to drug misuse, depression, anxiety, attempted suicide. 

This was a powerhouse performance from Katie, who kept us gripped and entertained throughout and even more so because it’s real, this is her own life. Her standing ovation at the end was well deserved. Katie has a real knack with storytelling, a true inspiration to young people to stick with it…a beacon of hope.Against all odds she powered through, got off the crutches and even ran a marathon!

 If you get a chance to see this, I would truly recommend it. 

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Created and Performed by Alexis Gregory

Directed by Rikki Beadle- Blair

A poignant, compelling revival of a pivotal moment in history…

Following a successful run on the West End, Riot Act is spreading its wings across the UK, with live shows and a digital reimagining to widen its reach.

Creator and performer, Alexis Gregory interviewed three people from the LGBTQ+ Rights movement: Michael-Anthony Nozzi, a survivor of  the Stonewall riots; Lavinia Co-op, an alternative ‘70s drag artist; and Paul Burston, a ‘90s AIDS  activist, to gain true life experience of gay rights spanning six decades: the drive to get the message out there, to tell their story and relive the sacrifices made on the way to get to where we are today.

We journey back through time to 1969, the year of the Stonewall Riots; a key moment in gay history; a point when the repressed would no longer suffer the injustice that society dealt out. It was time to fight back.

En pointe delivery from Gregory, with humour and characterisation off to a tee, we bear witness to police brutality at its worst at The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar with no running water and an old juke box, a place where the gay community could hang out and not be challenged. Except when there was a raid. For the police ‘It was just a sport’ they would come and steal money from the cash register and beat up the customers. What could they do? The final straw was on June 28th 1969 when many had gathered to watch Judy Garland in ‘A Star is Born’ and the police attempted to steal the projector. This was the beginning of the gay rights movement; a catalyst for change. From the perspective of Michael- a seventeen year old gay country boy, we feel like a fly on the wall as he gets stuck in, helping the people who were refused medical help and were left to bleed out. Even there in the midst of the riots and bloodbath that followed he was more at home and free than he’d felt back home.

We meet Lavinia an alternative 70s drag queen, who thought being gay was an illness. Even at school they felt isolated for being different. They told how many revelled in breaking the rules set by society, how could a piece of material define you? Still drag may have been accepted on stage but going out on a daily basis would still take its toll and when someone confronts you shouting ‘Faggot! Fight!’ it is bound to unnerve you. 

Easing flawlessly into the final character 56 year old Aid activist ‘Paul’, Alexis relays a moving emotionally charged tale of his friend Ewan, who he lost to Aids at the age of 23. This triggered him into action- demonstrating, raising awareness- catapulting condoms over prison walls, blocking traffic. Aids caused a divide in the gay community ‘good gay, bad gay’.

Throughout the piece, multi camera angles, mood lighting and great use of theatre spaces, means we get the most out of Gregory’s facial expressions and movement as these captivating backgrounds unfold. Costume is just right, enhancing the characters and adding attention to detail.

We are presented with three very different stories, people from diverse backgrounds, each with connecting motifs of violence, abuse and the loss of so many friends to Aids. Gregory’s portrayal of these real life characters is phenomenal. A physical presence to be commended. 

A tour de force performance, I would recommend seeing for sure. It is an entertaining, rollercoaster of emotions carrying an important message for the younger generation. As my Nan would say ‘You don’t know you’re born these days.’ and those who went before us and fought for a just society, should always be remembered.

Where can you see this show?

Thursday 9^th June York Theatre Royal, St Leonard’s Place, York, YO1 7HD

https://yorktheatreroyal.com

Saturday 2^nd July Reconnect Regal Theatre, 24-34 North Bridge Street,  Bathgate, EH48 4PS 

https://reconnectregaltheatre.com

Thursday 7^th July Studio, Curve Theatre, 60 Rutland Street, Leicester, LE1  1SB 

www.curveonline.co.uk 

Monday 22^nd – Sunday 28^th August Sherman Theatre, Senghennydd Road, Cardiff, CF24 4YE (digital screening on website) (on sale June) 

www.shermantheatre.co.uk 

Monday 22^nd – Sunday 28^th August The Lowry, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ (digital screening on website) (on sale 29^th April) 

www.thelowry.com 

Further dates to be announced.

3 

Running Time 60 minutes (stage version), 75 minutes (digital version) 

Ages Recommended for ages 16+. Contains some adult  themes and adult language 

Website For further information on Alexis Gregory and his work,  please see: https://www.alexisgregory.co.uk/

Social Media #RiotActOnline #RiotAct @lexigregory @RikkiBB  @EmmersonWard 

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