The Phlebotomist by Ella Road, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 14 April 2018

Gosh, we thought this was a very good production indeed.

We both normally have reservations about “dystopian future” plays.  Janie in particular was not sure about the subject matter of this one when we booked it. Had it not been for my enthusiasm for the specific moral dilemmas I saw coming and our general sense that Hampstead Downstairs plays are normally worth seeing, we might well not have booked this.

In short, the play is about a future society in which genetic profiling becomes the “be all and end all” of people’s prospects.

Here is a link to the Hampstead resource on this play/production.

Indeed Janie said she found the subject matter creepy during the interval and we noticed that several people did not return after the interval. That is a real shame, because the play was extremely well acted, directed and produced; well worth watching for the drama that unfolds, even if the story line is not quite your bag.

The plot was somewhat predictable, because (without wanting to give too much away) the motivation that might cause certain behaviours could only logically have been caused by the eventual, pivotal plot twist.

But I still think this is a good play – the dialogue is top notch and the moral dilemmas well worth exploring, even if in the context of a future society, elements of which seem prescient but the extreme version depicted seems somewhat unlikely.

Below is the promotional video for this play/production:

Reviews aren’t out yet, but when they do appear you’ll find them through this search term, click here.

Superb performances – all four of the cast but especially Jade Anouka and Cherelle Skeete – names we’ll look out for from now on.

Even Janie came round to the subject matter when we discussed the issues at some length over the rest of the weekend.

Highly recommended.

The Trial Of Ubu by Simon Stephens, Hampstead Theatre, 20 January 2012

We normally love Simon Stephens stuff…

…but this was a stinker.

Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi re-imagined as an International Human Rights trial.

Technically it was very clever – the video/special effects were very innovative. Good cast too.

Great writer but this piece just didn’t work.

The subject matter is so grave that the arty, post-modern “trial of the fictional character” idea just didn’t work for us.

Nor did it work for the critics – click here for a term that finds the reviews. Don’t click if you were involved in this play/production.

The trailer is embedded below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqI744m0Wws