REVIEW: ANOTHER EAVESDROPPING by Angel Theatre Company at Jack Studio Theatre until 1 October 2022

‘The acting is uniformly excellent’ ★★★ ½

London living throws up every shade, every nuance and every voice - as TS Eliot said ‘a heap of broken images’. It’s not for everyone of course but for those of us who embrace and love it, there is little finer than sitting somewhere quiet in Hackney, Bermondsey, Kilburn, wherever - and just watching, and listening.

Another Eavesdropping takes this idea to the nth degree. The creators and cast have ‘eavesdropped’ on, and then transcribed, conversations in and around the capital to give them theatrical context through the re-imagining of time and place. We are assured that ‘every word’ has been overheard and taken as a potential piece of ‘art’. How this was achieved doesn’t bear thinking about, but I assume it required a decent level of loitering, recording and heavy note taking. Having recently undertaken a long bicycle ride through London’s canal network I can attest to the vast array of fragmented comment and conversations that one hears - but is there a point to putting them all together and do these arrived-at vignettes contrive to give a good evening at the theatre?

First up, The Brockley Jack looks terrific. A simple but neat chessboard floor is flanked either side by 2 sets of 6 cast members wearing gaudy t-shirts and staring blankly ahead. They look like they might stand up at any minute and confess either their alcoholism or conversation to God. At the back of the theatre is shelving hosting props which are taken and replaced as needed and, with each scene overlapping the next (at least, with actors often moving from one ‘character’ to another) this is all very smart and works well.

Let’s put whether we believe these are real conversations to one side. Let’s focus on whether this is, indeed, interesting and entertaining. And the answer, of course, is ‘kind of’. There is no narrative. There is no real pathos and no obvious ‘entry point’ for the audience to make a connection. There is little real characterisation. There is no beginning and end. But, in fairness, that is not what the creators have set out to achieve. These are ‘musings, chats and rants which provide us with quite a unique window on the world’ but, alas, many fall far short of being ‘funny, some tragic, and others thought provoking’. Across some of the longer scenes I found myself drifting away from the action in front me as there was little or nothing for me to connect to or with.

And yet - you should go. The acting is uniformly excellent. Despite the sense that, in particular when actors moved immediately from one ‘character’ to another it often felt somewhat like an extended audition tape, the diversity of dialect, movement and interaction just about sustains things. I particularly enjoyed the scene with three mums chatting - sporadically shouting at their children - and both James Lee and Gordana Kostic had stand out moments. Laura Shipler Chico showed depth and range across a number of sharp cameos, and Christie Silvester was always watchable and has star quality.

I’m not sure what this all adds up to, but I’ve thought about the evening quite a bit since. The show claims to ‘reflect the attitudes and opinions of those living in and around London’. I’m not sure about the ‘opinions’ bit - more of this would have been welcomed - but we got ‘attitude’ and we got some vibrancy, and some sass. We also got moments of stagnation. Chuck in a bit of real poignancy and, yes, pathos, and maybe Another Eavesdropping would then shine a light on London, the ‘Unreal City’ of Eliot’s Waste Land.

ANOTHER EAVESDROPPING Produced by Angel Theatre Company

Directed by John Patterson

Brockley Jack Theatre

20 Sept – 1 October 2022

https://brockleyjack.co.uk/jackstudio-entry/another-eavesdropping/   

Reviewer

Paul Maidment had a long career at the BBC where he ran a number of commercial / digital businesses and he now consults to the creative content sector. His love of theatre came from his wife whom he met at university and he has been attending shows ever since. In 2021/22 Paul was a member of The Olivier Awards public panel which re-enforced his belief in theatre as the most exciting and engrossing cultural medium.