Classified

Review on LONDON BOX OFFICE by Monty Leigh (see original review here)

Loosely Based Theatre Company’s Classified, as part of the Working Class Stories season at the Actors’ Centre, is made up of three interlinking plays that comment on class - some set in an imagined future.

Directed by Calum Robshaw and written by Jayne Woodhouse, Classified holds its own as a politically charged and angry piece of work. The first of three short plays - Choices - follows a near future imagined reality where children from low socio-economic backgrounds are bought by richer families from their young, vulnerable mothers. It is a comment on how we judge those from lower socio economic backgrounds, constantly berating them with statistics about their lifestyle and their bleak prospects. David Lenik, who plays the Jeremy-Kyle-esque Interviewer perfectly embodies class-based judgments by asking Leanne (performed with refreshing honesty by Anna Hallas Smith) to give up her child Jax. The Interviewer, let's call him Jeremy for now, even asks the audience to participate in the decision. It highlights the grave problem that Britain has with judging the potential of those from lower class backgrounds - and the problem it has with low wages, that can barely support a mother and child.

Set in 2080, the second play, and personally the most engaging for me was Classified. A couple are struggling to function under the weight of a rigid governance, where class is literally defined by the alphabet. Man, played by Aaron Kehoe, is a Class D. He will do anything to stay that way, whilst his infinitely kinder counterpart Woman (played by Kate O’Rourke - who has a softness that distinctly reminds me of Hayley Atwell) cares about the ‘inferiors’ - which consist of the elderly, homeless people and anyone who crosses the governance. This short play follows many twists and turns, with Kehoe and O’Rourke expertly drifting from argumentative, dangerous tension to the mundanity of everyday domestic life.

Finally, in 2090, someone is taking a stand against this governance in The Watchers. A very accurate depiction of a mother’s relationship with her teenage daughter. Whilst the Mother wants to take a quiet stand, the daughter wishes she would toe the line. Only when things really get serious, does the daughter jump in and sacrifice herself in a violent protest.

Classified is a confronting piece of work, and takes a rather twisted and tragic viewpoint on our existing world and trajectory. I do think it would benefit from either fully-commuting to a dystopian ‘Black Mirror’ style or stripping itself entirely down, as political work often benefits from having a distinct style, and staying far away from ‘being on the fence.’ Go and see it, or follow Loosely Based Theatre for more information.

Review on THEATRE AND ART REVIEWS  by Elaine Chapman (see original review here)

Loosely based Theatre Company’s three interlinked short plays are a macabre fictional look at the reality of a world that could be closer than we think! When freedom is removed and only allowed to a privileged few who can we trust? Nobody is the simple answer in this production and absolutely nothing is what it appears to be!

First time Mum, 18-year-old Leanne (Kayley Rainton) has given birth three days earlier to Jax. She is subjected to an appalling interview by the Man played by David House at first it appears to be a routine interview. As the meeting progresses the sinister and insidious reason for calling her in is sickening. Does she have a price and will she sell her only commodity? The questions left me cold and I felt very angry by his smug demeanour as can be seen in the picture above.

There are interlinking subtle themes running throughout the three short plays. The Sixty minute straight through production keeps you gripped wanting to find out the fate of each character. Breaking the fourth wall frequently engaging directly with the audience and encouraging them to become more than passive observers adds another dimension to this play.

Actress Rosannah Lenaghan pictured above plays the other half of a young couple. She misses curfew trying to find out what has happened to a lower level man she sees on a daily basis called Jax. Neil Gardner in the role of her boyfriend is more concerned about how her actions will affect his own status level. Just how far does he go to save his own privileges?

Playwright Jayne Woodhouse delivers a very dark and deeply uncomfortable insight into a future that isn’t completely inconceivable. The tightly weaved script leaves you cold in places and delivers plenty of shocks along the way. Just how far will people go to protect themselves in the name of what they have been brainwashed into believing to be “right”!

Director Calum Robshaw has bought each of the characters together in an extremely well-directed trio of hard-hitting situations. The smooth transition between each play doesn’t allow much time to gather your thoughts!

The stage is minimally dressed nonetheless the strong script doesn’t depend on props. The strength of conviction by the cast of four is all you need to focus on. Their interlinked stories and how their paths often cross is the central focus and the delivery is close to perfect. As with all particularly good Fringe plays the key is in the quality of writing and the right choice of actors, not the budget spent on special effects!

Four Stars

Review on LONDON PUB THEATRES by Harry Buckner (see original review here)

Classified is an ambitious production consisting of three small, interlinking plays that connect together to make a coherent whole. It has a lot of heart, and despite running for only 60 minutes in total, it manages to squeeze rather a lot into its run time, resulting in an often intense experience. The rapid pace results in nothing having the opportunity to become stale, and its frequently snappy dialogue imparts a lot of meaning and allows the cast to really let loose.

The three pieces by Jayne Woodhouse, examine the inequality in our current society and what these might lead to if left unchecked. For the most part it is well written, and impressive in its scope, although the seemingly almost obligatory Brexit joke was a low point for me.

The cast as a whole are excellent, but special mention must be made of both Rosannah Lenaghan and Kayley Rainton, who both give especially effective performances in the third play “The Watchers”. The way these two play off of each other really does help to hammer home the Orwellian narrative and modern-day counterparts to the audience.

An interesting thing to note is the inclusion of some audience participation at the end of the first piece (fittingly named “Choices”) where a major decision that seemingly alters the course of the piece, and the production at large is left to the audience. Generally I am not personally a fan of this kind of interaction with the audience, as I feel it can break the immersion that the players have spent so long luring us into, but I must admit, as much as I did cringe when the house lights came up it did succeed in making me vested in the play just a little bit more, and also planted a seed in my mind, that I should like to come back and watch on a second occasion, to see what did indeed change. So to be fair, mission accomplished there.

All in all, these short plays have a lot of weight, some terrific stand out performances in an excellent cast, and it has certainly made the Loosely Based Theatre Company one to watch for me.

Review on THEATRE THINGS  (see original review here)

Consisting of three short interlinking plays set in 2019 and a dystopian near future, Jayne Woodhouse’s Classified offers a chilling but not wholly unrecognisable glimpse of a Britain where social class has become our single defining characteristic.

In Choices Leanne (Kayley Rainton), a new mother, is interviewed by an official from the “Department of Life Choice Options” (David House), who knows everything about her living situation and employment history, and uses that knowledge to question her ability to raise her child. 60 years later, in Classified, a couple (Neil Gardner and Rosannah Lenaghan) argue over her decision to stop and help a “class Z” homeless man: a moment of compassion that could have an impact on their own class ranking – or worse. And finally in The Watchers, Sarah (Rainton) looks back on her mother’s decade of non-violent resistance to the system, and explains why she’s now chosen to respond in a different way.

The trio of plays is simply staged by director Calum Robshaw, but with universally strong writing and performances, the show nonetheless succeeds in making its point very effectively. Though each story is only 20 minutes long, the audience quickly becomes invested in the characters and what happens to them – perhaps because the world they live in and the attitudes within it, though extreme, are not entirely unfeasible. I’m sure, for instance, that while DOLCO isn’t (yet) a thing, the kind of interrogation to which eighteen-year-old Leanne is subjected three days after giving birth almost certainly does take place. Similarly, unwillingness to help those less fortunate because of the risk it might reflect badly on ourselves is taken to exaggerated lengths in the second play – but that attitude already exists in our current social and political climate. It’s easy to see how these stories could become reality, and by more than once bringing the audience into the action, the play shows us too how we could be complicit in making it happen.

The final play is perhaps the most challenging, because it asks us to consider how we should respond to a corrupt and heartless system of government that weaponises social status against its own people. There’s never any doubt that something needs to be done – but is meeting violence with violence really the answer, even when all other arguments seem to have failed?

Throughout the show, the characters are forced to make choices – sometimes with the audience’s help, other times alone. In some cases, there’s a clear right and wrong; in others, it’s not so black and white. The impact of each choice is then felt throughout the rest of the play, demonstrating how the decisions we make every day can resonate and affect not just our own lives but those of people around us. Cleverly written and deeply unsettling, this trio of stories sends its audience home reflecting on both the possible future we’ve just seen, and on our own actions and attitudes in the here and now. Highly recommended for a thought-provoking evening.

Review on VALLEY NEWS by Viktor Berg (see original review here)

Loosely Based Theatre Company’s Classified, written by local playwright Jayne Woodhouse and directed by Calum Robshaw, is three thought-provoking short plays set in a dystopian near future, confronting and challenging the audience’s values and morals.

The Chapel Nightclub in Salisbury staged the production for the theatre company for two nights, Friday, October 4 and Saturday, October 5.

Set in 2019, the first play, ‘Choices’, follows mother Leanne (Kayley Rainton) in a reality where children from ‘low-class’ families are bought by rich families to increase their chances of a successful life. An interviewer, played by David House, presents Leanne with statistic after statistic to prove giving her son Jax away, in exchange for cash, is the best decision.

Kayley’s and David’s skilful acting makes you forget the situation is in fact not real and starkly confronts the audience with issues people in deprived areas face every day. The audience is asked to make the decision for Leanne – ‘where do you keep your moral compass?’

Fast forward to 2080. In ‘Classified’, a controlling government has implemented a class-based system, categorising the people according to the alphabet. We follow a couple trying to get by in a society where the homeless, elderly and anyone defying the authorities (labelled ‘inferiors’) have had their privileges taken away.

The woman, played by Rosanna Lenaghan, cares about the inferiors and wants to help, but takes the risk of losing her status while the man (Neil Gardner) has no intention of jeopardising his Class D classification. The two expertly throw arguments at each other in an intense conversation that once again challenges values and beliefs; ‘would I stand up against injustice and risk my own skin, or safely live on in ignorance?’

In the last part, ‘The Watchers’, set in 2090, a mother and daughter are taking a stand against the government but have different views on how to go about it – peaceful protests or violence. Teenage daughter Sarah, played by Kayley Rainton, naturally wants to go her own way instead of listening to her mum (Rosannah Lenaghan).

Sarah has had enough of the peaceful protests; change is not coming fast enough and radical action is needed now. So much so that she is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

The piece imagines a present and future in which class divisions are taken to the extreme, not dissimilar to the likes of The Hunger Games, but it feels so real I left the venue thinking: ‘Is this what the world has come to?’ – a testament to its quality.

Classified is a great production; the skill and creativity of everyone involved is showing, and several days later, I am still contemplating what I would do in the same situations the characters found themselves in.

For me, the third part dragged on, but the hard-hitting and intense part one and two sealed the deal. A must see.