Cast members Eugenie Pastor, Clare Beresford, Dominic Conway, Shamira Turner
The Little Bulb Theatre has not been going very long and yet already they have high praise from Guardian theatre critic Lyn Gardner, calling the company, “Recklessly talented...insanely brave.” And she’s right. Trying to describe their play Operation Greenfield to a friend afterwards involved the phrase ‘you had to be there’ which can only mean one of two things; the play was incoherent rubbish, or the company was insanely brave. It’s certainly been a while since I saw a slow-mo montage depicted on stage. In fact I have never seen a slow-mo montage depicted on stage (but I have been in one).
One of the things that makes Operation Greenfield oddly brave is that whilst the plot is set around a small (“yes we are the only two members”) church youth group there’s no snide undertone. Anyone waiting for a Dawkins style aside will be waiting a long time. Instead the actors revel in the innocence of four small town teenagers on the cusp of adulthood. Speaking to cast member Shamira Turner afterwards she said their director had asked them to investigate the subject of faith. Late teenhood is the second stage in life where humans are wont to become especially earnest. Every decision you make at 16, you are informed will impact on the rest of your life. One false move and it’s over before you even hit 20. It’s just like George Michael said, you gotta have faith.*
The play follows the youth group’s band Funky Town as it grows from a duo to a trio (anyone who says the accordion can’t be funky is wrong, wrong, wrong) to a foursome called Vintage Summer, ready to enter Stokely’s talent contest. Although all of this seems to happen with no consultation of the band’s leader, he plays the electric guitar guys, surely that holds some truck? Yeah, you’ve probably met this guy too, whiney, bossy and gives in surprisingly easily after he’s given his speech. In fact all the characters are familiar, and the deadpan delivery makes them all loveable. The maths enthusiast, the French exchange student, the pastor’s jolly daughter, they’re all there, wide-eyed and darling.
Since its debut in Edinburgh I suspect this play has undergone a lot of tightening. To integrate live music, montages and a daydream sequence successfully takes crafting. To make it look so effortless and spontaneous takes, well, it takes more crafting. The only reason I wanted this play to end was so that I could discuss how much I enjoyed it.
I saw Operation Greenfield at The Basement Theatre Brighton. Ois touring this autumn, you can check the tour schedule here
*this marks the first George Michael reference on this site. And it’s my site so it shan’t be the last.
Squeamish Kate
The play follows the youth group’s band Funky Town as it grows from a duo to a trio (anyone who says the accordion can’t be funky is wrong, wrong, wrong) to a foursome called Vintage Summer, ready to enter Stokely’s talent contest. Although all of this seems to happen with no consultation of the band’s leader, he plays the electric guitar guys, surely that holds some truck? Yeah, you’ve probably met this guy too, whiney, bossy and gives in surprisingly easily after he’s given his speech. In fact all the characters are familiar, and the deadpan delivery makes them all loveable. The maths enthusiast, the French exchange student, the pastor’s jolly daughter, they’re all there, wide-eyed and darling.
Since its debut in Edinburgh I suspect this play has undergone a lot of tightening. To integrate live music, montages and a daydream sequence successfully takes crafting. To make it look so effortless and spontaneous takes, well, it takes more crafting. The only reason I wanted this play to end was so that I could discuss how much I enjoyed it.
I saw Operation Greenfield at The Basement Theatre Brighton. Ois touring this autumn, you can check the tour schedule here
*this marks the first George Michael reference on this site. And it’s my site so it shan’t be the last.
Squeamish Kate
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