Diaspora Inferno: From My Grandmother's Kitchen @ Drayton Arms Theatre

A group of women, moving through their own stories in the world, yet with a common thread. Diaspora Inferno explores the common experiences of women across places and times through highly physical and representative work; the piece is experimental in nature, and really pushes the edges of how story is typically told on London stages, leaning instead into an outside-in approach, stepping away from narrative and arguably even structure, yet creating emotional moments of connection for the audience.

The scenes are not evenly powerful, however those that are - notably the actor eating an ice cream, telling us a story of rationed sunshine, is exquisite, and will sit with me for a long time to come. I would love to see this piece develop further to clarify some of the ideas and images, as there is something really compelling and engaging at its core.

Folklorica @ Drayton Arms Theatre

Folklorica is a piece of new writing, weaving together a number of threads which if I were to list, would feel ambitious. Using a folk tale and folk dance, the story follows a young female protagonist who begins in an exploitative factory, and through connecting with her history and the magic of historical practices, overcomes personal challenges to take control of her own life.

She is supported in her journey by 4 women who later become goddesses, as well as a healer of sorts — all of whom help her against the single male character, who represents misogyny and capitalism and all things bad. This sounds simplistic but as an allegory works quite effectively. I did wonder whether 4 women were needed, could two or three have worked? Yet the balance of this group and their impact on the story was clear — so it is difficult to critique.

I would have liked to see some further development stylistically — the production could use a stronger directorial hand, and the script can lean even further into this creative world — however on the whole it was an interesting and engaging evening, and a piece worthy of further development.

Second Summer of Love @ Drayton Arms Theatre

Second Summer of Love reflects on what it is like to be a Gen X former raver, now serious responsible adult and parent, and what happened to those joy-filled and optimistic free spirits. Framed around a mom and her teenage daughter who is revising for a Social Studies exam about drug use, the majority of the show exists in a flashback to her experiences as a 16 year old, raving in fields in the South of England. The flashbacks are when the play is strongest, but it really highlights how the script struggles when the other two actors are on stage; which is no disrespect to them, but rather to the impact of the adaptation from solo show to three hander. While this was needed for the actor’s ability to continue performing, the integration of the other characters as separate bodies in space needs more attention to help the script work in this new form.

Despite a strong performance from the lead actor, the injection of the additional characters, along with multiple false endings undermined its overall impact, which is too bad — as in its strong moments, it really had a funny and self-referential spark.