Written and Stage Managed by Kitty Hughes
Music/Sound by Matthew Holmquist
Lighting by Garrin Clarke
Directed by Duncan Hallis
Set Design by Ceci Half
Venue – The Other Room
Jules – Alice Downing
Todd – Cory Tucker
I have mentioned all the other Big Loop people so I’m also just going to put the name George Soave on here, did he produce it? Probably.
George Soave.
Before things about the show, an aside;
(I am referencing The Stage’s review of this play – https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2018/cheer-review-at-the-other-room-cardiff-cynical-but-strained-anti-christmas-comedy/)
I’m not saying that Davis’ viewpoint on the show is flawed, he makes points I agree with – however his stance on adolescence in theatre is one that presumes all theatre must present itself in a certain way and god forbid a theatre company brand themselves otherwise.
Is there no room for adolescence in theatre Nicholas Davis? What is so inherently bad about the use of the word ‘fuck’ in the freesheet that it takes up a sizable portion of your review? I hope your review was a cleverly worded satire on the elitist nature of theatre criticism, but I strongly suspect it wasn’t.
Big Loop make it really clear that they really value feedback and as a young company
they want to grow from the feedback, which I think is great, so if at any point in reading this review you think it’s going on a bit, it absolutely is, this is more “notes that no one asked for” rather than “review”.
Cheer follows Todd (Cory Tucker) trying to obtain a fraudulent Christmas license from Jules (Alice Downing) in a world where Christmas is outlawed aside from those who can pay for the privilege. The production follows the unfolding dynamic between them both, focusing on ‘cheer’ the drug that makes everything festive, Todd’s bargaining tool.
I love the design. The Other Room is such a cool space that it is so easy to utilise the kinda weird shape it forms and turn it into so many things. The set that Half has created is great, if you weren’t previously familiar with the layout there is an awesome reveal that is a great utilisation of the space – the set on the whole looks really interesting and complimented by Clarke’s LX design to make some really stand out moments. Adding Holmquist’s (a man, who between me seeing this play and writing this review have been mistaken for twice) sound design into the mix makes for some really atmospheric moments
I first saw this production on the first preview and went to see it again on one if it’s last days to see how it progressed and evolved during the run.
To be candidly honest it had improved, but not as much as I would have expected given the time the show was going on for. There were some fundamental problems in the show that I do not feel ever got addressed to the extent they needed to get addressed.
The first show I saw the lines were still a bit uncertain but the actors felt like they were listening to each other and there was the blossoming hope of a powerful dynamic forming that would grow as the show went on, however when I saw the show a second time it appeared to have fallen into a tennis match of lines just being fired back and forth and it didn’t really feel like anyone was listening to each other on the stage, it had gotten to the point where it had settled into comfort – which I totally understand can happen on long runs, but it’s really important to recognise when that is happening and make provisions to ensure that the run doesn’t stagnate like this.
The play teases the audience with some physical theatre moments towards the end, but not enough for it to be a ‘thing’ and it isn’t utilised in any other points, which I think is a great shame. I believe if utilised with more precision it could have sculpted the piece into a more formed direction.
A lot of the things that I don’t understand about this production would fall into a collection of small things for which I can’t understand why the decision was made to keep it in the production. Whilst you can have a character fall to the floor screaming looking like they are fitting to show that they are going through something, is there a less literal representation of that which would hit harder? To see an actor faux-fit on stage may feel powerful, but it makes an audience member think is “oh, they’re pretending to do that now” as the reality is, unless your audience is absolutely taken away and it’s done perfectly, the room is aware that such a raw display of chaotic energy will generate discomfort that will sap away at the immersion, not add to it.
When you make a ‘drug play’ one of the conventions of that style are kinda wacky trip scenes, which this play has a few of, which were alright and later on displays some awesome LX/SFX/VFX design, but the first two at least we see Todd and Jules do the classic overhappy fool routine that you see people mashed doing, which is great, but once the audience got that I felt it reminded the audience a fair few times that this was what was happening – whilst there was loads of exposition that needed to happen in those moments early on, but I think it would have been great for it to be more crafted slapstick than mashed up antics as there isn’t much dramatic value in watching people sorta dope around a stage for a bit after we get that.
I recognise that’s a lot of moany nonsense. There are things I really did enjoy about it. The writing on a whole is interesting and the story is woven well, there are many moments that are genuinely really funny, the structure is solid, I had a lot of fun. – my lengthy paragraphing is more a response to them wanting feedback and criticism more than me thinking you all needed to know that was all stuff I thought.
A Christmas dinner made up of intrigue, comedy, drugs, and drowned in the delicious gravy of classist undertones.
★★★☆☆
Cardiff Theatre Review 