š The Luminous
š The Lyric, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Royal Parade, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 2TR
š Thursday 14th November 2024
āļøāļø
UNFOCUSED AND TEDIOUS
Currently playing in The Drum at Theatre Royal Plymouth is THE LUMINOUS, a three-handed play from RedCape Theatre. After reading the blurb about the show I was intrigued and was very much looking forward to the performance. Unfortunately I left feeling very let down and I will explain my feelings below.
The first scene was actually really gripping and seemed to be setting us up for a strong storyline as we meet A & E nurse Alice as she is working with a female patient who has been the victim of sexual assault. This is powerful and the imagry of the mysterious woman in the brown gown is cleverly portrayed.
Sadly the play instantly seemed to lose its way after its strong start as we follow three workers from the same hospital as they take part in their book club. The book up for discussion is 'The Luminous' and it seems one loved it, one finds it offensive, and one didn't even bother to read it at all!
The show then flip-flops between the present day scenes and the cast acting out different chapters of the book as the lines between the two begin to blur. The transitions actually worked really well and the use of an old-school projector to display chapter titles was clever and well utilised.
The main problem with the show for me was the writing. I struggled to find the meaning in the play and the development of the central characters was thin. There were the occasional comical parts which stirred some laughter from the audience but there were also times where it seemed they were expecting a laugh that never came.
There seemed to be no real point or strong narrative to the piece. What were the constant mentions of elephants and the elephant man about? What was going on with the protest outside the hospital? And why did they play out the same scene three times, dut directing the same question to a different character each time? I assumed that the piece was meant to be a comment on women in society and looking at how attitudes towards women may or may not have changed since Victorian England but this important message seemed somehow lost.
At an hour and a half with no interval, the piece was too long. I wasn't the only person in the auditorium becoming restless and looking at my watch. Plays with this sort of run time without an interval need to be able to hold the attention of the audience which this struggled to do.
The technical aspects of the show were good, with both the lightining and sound designs working well. Costuming and props were also effective and the way props were moved around the stage to become different things was well though out and executed.
The standout performance for me came from Cassie Friend, perhaps because she had the most interesting characters to play. I felt she particullaly excelled as The Emcee and I enjoyed her cheeky interactions with audience members.
There were some good elements here but I always say that the most important part of any theatre production - whether that be play, musical, dance, opera etc - is the central story. If that is weak as I regrettably thought it was for THE LUMINOUS, then even if the production excels everywhere else, it holds it back.
There are some great ideas here but because of the shaky storyline, the feeling of watching an unfinished production and the monotonous feeling I had I couldn't justify awarding more than two stars. I quickly felt an indifference to the story so the evening then became tedious.
If the fat was trimmed from the script and reworked into perhaps a run time of 60 or 70 minutes then perhaps it could be a hit. It needs to work out what its message is and focus on that and bring it to the forefront more. The scenes which were part of the book were infinitely stronger than the others, so it would be nice to see the other parts match up to these.
As I always, I encourage my readers to make up their own minds on productions and if THE LUMINOUS is of interest to you then it is playing in Plymouth until Saturday. Click here to secure tickets from just Ā£16.
Neill Kovacic-Clarke
All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one person.
My ticket for this performance of The Luminous was gifted by the Theatre Royal Plymouth who invited me to watch the show in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.
CAST LIST:
Catherine Dyson as Alice / Woman 1 / Health Visitor / Sawbones; Cassie Friend as Mighty / The Emcee / Woman 3; Rebecca Loukes as Mags / Woman 2 / Angie / Sawbones' Assistant
CREATIVES:
Written by Catherine Dyson; Directed by Sabina Netherclift; Lighting Design by Adrian Croton; Set Design by Tina BicĆ¢t; Sound Design by Dougie Evans and Cam Gallagher
RUNNING TIME (approx):
1 hours 35 minutes, with no interval
CONTENT WARNINGS:
Strong language; Depictions of an autopsy and murder; Discussions of abortion, childbirth and grief; Themes of violence against women
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