Leeds Playhouse/Online At home – until 29 May 2021
Reviewed by Dawn Smallwood
5*****
It is exciting for the Leeds Playhouse to reopen its doors and start proceedings with a 50th anniversary celebration courtesy of Decades: Stories From The City. The Playhouse has had its challenges during the Pandemic however they have successfully connected audiences in making theatre accessible with productions being available to view Online At home. This production, watched remotely, is created by writers who are linked to the theatre, hosts six monologues set in the North, and the characters tell their stories over the decades of the playhouse’s existence.
The performance stages three monologues set in the 1970s, 1980s and 2000s. Firstly, Nicer than Orange Squash, written by Alice Nutter and under the direction of Evie Manning. Loz
(Isobel Coward) shares her exploration of identifying who she really is amidst feminism, socialism, radicalism and relationships. She shares an insight in alternative living which were not considered the economic, political and social cliches and stereotypes typical to the mainstream 80s. There is a lot to think about, particularly political and social headlines, that are related to that decade.
Next is Simon Armitage’s The Bodyguard set in the 1970s. This is about Wilf, performed by Connor Elliott, who reluctantly acts as the Bodyguard to his mother as well as keeping up to date with the fearful news of the murders in the region and the new Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher . Wilf doesn’t want to go out and meet his mother and would rather stay at home in his cosily secure bedroom. However, he candidly explains how forearmed he is as much as forewarned incase he comes across the Yorkshire Ripper. The monologue successfully encapsulates the atmospheric though chilling reality of the fearful time that the community experienced.
The third and final monologue is The Unknown, written by Leanna Benjamin and directed by Amanda Huxtable. This reflective, tainted with sadness, monologue is beautifully performed by Nicole Botha. Set just before and after the millennium’s (2000s) arrival, Sophia (Botha) nostalgically reminisces about her family and what she was able to do before events that have changed her life forever. With having to adapt and confront the future’s reality in moving forward, she is able to find strength to adapt in order to do that.
Decades: Stories From The City marks a celebratory and welcome return to the Playhouse and these well performed and creatively staged monologues can resonate how our lives are influenced and impacted by where we live and where we consider home. These monologues are certainly worth accessing whether watching them on stage in person and from one’s home