The Space – 25 September
The silver anniversary of The Space was celebrated in style with a night of specially commissioned plays. The company of 25 rose to the occasion to create a night full of laughter and joy.
Artistic director Adam Hemming and the Chair of St Paul’s Arts Trust, Pradeep Jeyaratnam-Joyner both gave charming speeches celebrating the volunteers and creatives who have been associated with The Space over the past 25 years and looking forward to the future.
The short plays were all themed around silver, beginning with the charming Silver Medals by Isabel Dixon. Directed by Adam Hemming and performed by Elizabeth Schenk and Steven Shawcroft – this is a heartwarming story of two school friends who can’t understand why they are always other people’s second choice at pivotal moments in their life but whose friendship sees them through.
This Precious Stone Set in the Silver Sea by Mike Carter and directed by Neil Sheppeck, is a delight for Shakespeare lovers, with Danica Corns, Faye Maughan and Esther Mackay playing three actors at tech rehearsal for a production of Richard II that hasn’t sold a single ticket. As the actors discuss the choice of play – everyone prefers the other Richard apparently – and whether they should continue with rehearsal, the script becomes a frantic Name the Play game as quotes fly back and fore.
Every Cloud by Grace Chapman, directed by Sepy Baghaei and performed by Tice Oakfield and Raphael Von Blumenthal is a quirky meeting between two strangers as one desperately tries to get to his best friend’s wedding. The odd man he asks for directions makes Charlie think he’s losing his mind, but eventually gives him direction in his life choices too. Weird and wonderful.
Silver Palms by Francis Grin, directed by Charlotte Everest and performed by Damian Cooper, Pradeep Jeyaratnam-Joyner and Faye Maughan is another funny tale of friendship as two friends take a post-divorce break in Thailand. After being thrown out of every place they visit – including a temple – for their drunken behaviour, they visit a fortune teller. Peter pays extra for a happy reading to help his friend feel better, but things don’t go to plan. The tone shifts nicely at a rapid pace throughout the short narrative, and there are many laugh out loud moments.
Silver Bullet by Annie Fox, directed by Matthew Jameson and performed by Anthony Cozens, Ali Perotto and Chloe Wade is the silliest of the plays, and ended the night on a high. As a renowned expert on lycanthropy gives a lecture in The Museum of the Unknowable, her assistant is giving a young woman a private tour of the newest exhibits. The tone is definitely more Carry on Screaming than Hammer, and the invented myth surrounding the Space building is a hoot – or should that be a howl? – resulting in the entire company up on stage dancing to Werewolves of London.
A fantastic communal ending to a night celebrating the creative community of The Space. Here’s to many more years to come!