A stellar collection of stories by Alistair McDowell is performed at Blacks Member's Club.
For two more performances only, Cheap Seats Theatre presents four short stories by Alistair McDowell in one of the most theatrical non-theatre venues in London. Black's Members’ Club – tucked away behind some railings and down some stairs in Soho – lends the character of each of its rooms to four compelling actors for twenty or so minutes while they appeal to your sympathies, make you wince, and break your heart.
McDowell's ability to hone in on the loneliness and neglect experienced by four varied and strangely sanguine characters is both unsettling and compelling heightened by James Turner's design. Turner's talents shine most brightly in the first story, Sophie is Sophie, directed by Elizabeth Sands (Dumbshow Theatre). It looks like the early days of Miss Havisham's descent are laid before us. Tea cups and doilies are scattered around a colourful but pale room that's dainty but dishevelled and stained. The room is tiny, and the audience surround Rachel Finnegan as she relates the story of her childhood to an invisible infant. So focused and assured is her delivery that I find myself glancing in the direction of her gaze to try and find the child she addresses with such eerie gentleness.
Guided into another room, this time with the light blocked out and a looming light fixture overhead, Mark Weinman conjures a bleak winter. He proceeds to tell us the perturbing tale of a lonely man whose body lets him down and renders him an emotional and psychological wreck in White Blood Cells. A stomach-turning display by a knowing performer.
Audrey Scholhammer then plays the title role in Lily on the Stairs. Directed by Oliver Lyttelton in a clever format, she takes her overly pleasant character gradually to a state of quiet desperation through a series of answering machine messages that she leaves for her friends and neighbours.
Ending with the emotionally exhausting Blue Rabbits is a good call. It's set slightly apart from McDowell's other stories, and Flora-Spencer-Longhurst's touching performance as Andy the "slow-learner" is haunting. Her perpetual positivity and fleeting interactions with the audience place an almost real responsibility on us to reassure her she'll be fine, but, of course, she won't.
Some Stories sparks my curiosity and after these glimpses of such well-sculpted characters, I leave even more curious. This is archetypal storytelling for grown-ups: no happy endings, no heroes, and nothing is "just right".
Some Stories runs at Blacks Members' Club until 13th June.
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