REVIEW: BIG CRANBERRY by Joe Edgar at Jack Studio Theatre 18 – 29 November 2025
‘Great ambition here’ ★★★
Well, I’m now an expert in cranberry farming and all that it entails thanks to Joe Edgar’s new play which looks at how the media can report, develop and manipulate a story. There is great ambition here - it’s a big tale with big themes and ideas played out in the gloriously compact Jack Studio Theatre and, with some reservations, Edgar strikes the right balance between emotion, fact and humour.
The start of the play lost me. Four characters, after hours at the Boston Globe riffing and shouting and over-lapping and throwing stats and detail and facts - too much too fast. Throughout the play the characters very naturally talk over each other, interrupting and ‘sledging’ one another (it is the first day of the Ashes after all) and this works really well once things settle down and the audience can get their collective heads around what is what and who is who.
So, plucky young investigative journalist Marianne has returned from deepest Massachusetts where she’s been looking at all aspects of cranberry farming and how / if dark deeds might be afoot. She encounters and interviews multiple characters - deftly managed and played by the rest of the 4-person cast - and gradually uncovers environmental and social shenanigans leading her to question what’s right and what’s not. Some slightly clunky plot devices drive Marianne to make some decisive moves and act in ways which require her editor boss and colleagues to challenge her approach and behaviour.
The narrative flips back and forth from the after hours review of the article to key events and meetings ‘in the moment’. This is at times confusing and heavy handed but the cast runs with this well through simple but effective stage management (tables becoming cars etc) and lighting - once again showing how a small space can be wildly transformational. In between times, Marianne is also seen talking to her therapist about her dreams and fears (‘my mother was there of course’ - a great line) and this slightly muddles things as another layer of complication and fact-spouting.
As Marianne, Molly Hanley holds the stage really well and if she is at times a little ‘one note’ her ultimate breakdown is genuine and profoundly touching. She is well supported (in multiple roles) by Juliet Welch as her prickly boss, Sydney Crocker as a fellow reporter and especially Xavier Starr in a couple of well rounded roles.
This was a case of ‘almost but not quite’ - not enough killer lines, a slightly messy narrative and it all just being a bit much. A more focussed script, some choice editing and a clearer beginning would improve things and then you would have a strong, relevant piece of writing from an exciting new voice.
BIG CRANBERRY by Joe Edgar at Jack Studio Theatre 18 – 29 November 2025
presented by Sosij Productions
Tuesday 18th – Saturday 29th November at 7.30pm
BOX OFFICE https://brockleyjack.co.uk/jackstudio-entry/big-cranberry/
