One of the most exciting parts about the London theatre scene is all of the theatre that exists outside of the West End. Don’t get me wrong, the shows that we’ve seen on the West End over the past few weeks have been exciting, and they’ve all been marvellous on a technical level because they have the budget to do so. Fringe theatre, however, is much more reminiscent of the type of theatre that I grew to love in the first place. It’s still incredibly professional, much like regional theatre back home in the US, but they don’t necessarily have access to the glitz and glam that we have seen so often on the West End.
I had the pleasure of seeing The Mad Ones at The Other Palace Theatre in their blackbox space, which was simply called the Studio. The book, lyrics, and music were written by the amazing writing team Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk, and this production was directed by Emily Susanne Lloyd. The writing itself is incredibly evocative which helps to push the story forward at a steady pace. The music includes motifs that build throughout the score in an exciting way that left me feeling fully satisfied by the end of the show. The direction shone through the clear relationships and connection to the story that every actor brought onstage. While the scenic design was excellent and the costumes did what they needed to do, I was left with many questions about the sound and lighting.
The Mad Ones mainly follows Samantha Brown (played magnificently by Dora Gee), a recent high school graduate, as she tries to figure out which path to take. Before her senior year, she had always known what path she would go down. But everything changed when her best friend, Kelly (Eliza Bowden), was hit and killed by a car. Most of this play is a memory play with Kelly helping Sam relive key moments throughout the year prior including conversations with her mom, Beverly (Thea-Jo Wolfe), and her boyfriend, Adam (Gabriel Hinchliffe).
The space itself was incredibly interesting, and the set, designed by Reuben Speed, gave hints of the story before the show even began. The stage in the Studio is in the shape of a triangle with one side being the back wall and the other two sides having seating banks. I’m not sure if there is a name for this theatrical setup, but I’ve decided to call it a corner stage. The back of the set for The Mad Ones was made up of mirrors that had been broken into pieces and put up in a way that resembled a fractured windshield. Not only were the mirrors interesting to look at, but they helped with sightlines as there were many moments where I could only see someone’s face through one of the mirrors. There were two mirrors that became see-through at times, which helped add to the ghostly quality of memory. The only set piece onstage was the front half of a car with the two front seats. It stayed onstage the whole time and transformed into whatever a scene demanded. The most exciting transformation in my opinion was when they laid the seats down and seamlessly turned it into a bed.
The sound, designed by Tom Bedworth, unfortunately, was not as strong. House was held for about 15 minutes before the audience was let into the space, which I believe was for audio issues. Sadly they were not able to get all of those smoothed out, so there were several mics that kept going in and out, and overall the mixing wasn’t great.
The lighting, designed by Joanne Marshall, honestly pissed me off. The four performers up on stage were singing their absolute hearts out (and on some pretty dang hard music, mind you), and I swear that for about a quarter of the time their faces weren’t lit. It was clear that the actors had put tons of work into living truthfully, and it was frustrating at times to not be able to see them shine. I’m very curious as to what the tech process looked like for this production
.Despite my issues with the lights and sound, I am so glad to have had the opportunity to go see this show. Anyone who has dealt with loss, especially in a transitional moment of life, will have something with which to deeply resonate. And anyone who has had to grow up at all will find something to relate to. Absolutely hilarious at moments and absolutely devastating at others, The Mad Ones took me on a journey I am not likely to forget.
Theatre in London U of A 