Finding love can be cruel

Bird

Birmingham Rep Door

****

LAURA Lomas's one act play about a young girl's realisation that love isn't all it's cracked up be is a stark, hard hitting piece of theatre delivered without frills.

Amakar Okafor as Leah  powers through an intense monologue with impressive pace and real attack.  She addresses the audience directly from a set made up of piles of mattresses and various detritus that go to make up a teenager’s rooms. Takeaway boxes, drink cans and strewn litter add garnish to a clever, if rather stark, image. The room, just like Leah's thoughts, is haphazard and somewhat messy.

Okafor captures the angst of a young girl finding her way in life and delivers her observations with absolute sincerity. Her inevitable discovery that love is not always sweet is beautiful, played out without sentiment. Naturalistic acting of highest order.

Emphasis here is on theatre that both informs and platforms real lives. The danger, of course, with a play that explores day to day issues is that it won't appeal to those who see theatre as means of escaping their own problems for a couple of hours.

The truth is those people won't be there- they will be down the road paying considerably more to watch the latest high kicking musical.  That's the joy of theatre though. There is something for everyone.

Sharp writing combined with a performance that oozes street cred go to make an intensely watchable and powerful piece of bang up to date theatre.

Tom Roberts

20-10-14

Bird tours until Nov 18th 

 

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