Review: LIV: SAPPHIC SHAKESPEARE, Fishing Museum Loft - Brighton Fringe
Photo credit: Katy Livsey
For three nights and five performances only, Headache Creative Productions bring their contemporary twist on a Shakespeare classic to the Brighton Fringe festival. Liv: Sapphic Shakespeare is a two-person show drawing inspiration from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, honing on themes of mistaken identity, grief, forbidden love, secrets, and gender.
The play follows Liv as she mourns for her brother in a graveyard, which is where she first encounters Rio (otherwise later known as Vi) forming an undeniably electric bond that guides the rest of the show’s trajectory as these two lead characters seek to understand each other on a deeper level where secrets about love and gender gradually unveil themself.
Headache Creative Productions was formed back in 2023 with debut show Headache and since then, the company has grown and flourished. This production fuses together the talents of Tanieth Kerr (Rio/Vi) and Beth Birss (Liv) under the fine direction of Katy Livsey. This tight trio is small but mighty, and it is clear that Headache Creative Productions is destined for many ambitious future ventures both short term and long term, including bringing this show to both Buxton Fringe and Camden Fringe later this summer.
Liv: Sapphic Shakespeare is inspired by Twelfth Night but it goes so much further than just a simple adaptation. Tanieth Kerr brings an original script that is so beautifully written that every line feels like poetry. Shakespeare shows are conventionally male heavy, and traditionally even the female characters would have been performed by men, so it is empowering seeing an interpretation of Twelfth Night reduced to just two female characters/actors and watch them tell such a beautiful story. The writing style feels so very Shakespearean; it really is quite impressive, balancing a careful line between tradition and modernity making it both suitable for fans of the Bard whilst remaining accessible to understand the storyline at all points for those less familiar (and perhaps intimidated) by Shakespearean writing. The script is pure brilliance, drawing inspiration from a literary great whilst having a strong contemporary personality to it, and the craft of solid writing creates a strong foundation at the heart of the show.
The acting is brilliantly watchable throughout and is most impressive during emotive performance moments. This is a play set in a graveyard and as a consequence, the source material draws a lot on grief. These moments are tackled with sensitive directorial decisions and incredibly realistic and heart-aching acting moments that tug on your heart strings in an authentic way, bringing very genuine tears to the stage. Despite this, it isn’t a sad show – instead, it is a moving one. Overall, the tone of the show is playful, after all it is based on a famous Shakespearean comedy, but Liv: Sapphic Shakespeare really benefits from these moments of emotional depth, introspection and reflection to help add new dimensions to these loveable lead characters.
The chemistry between the two actors throughout the well-crafted dialogue is at the core of the show. So, moments when the stage is empty and graced with just music or voiceovers does feel more slow paced and unnecessary. It makes sense as a transition between scenes, however it is quite quiet, tinny, and hard to make out what is being said in the form of radio announcements, really taking away from the seamlessness of the otherwise highly successful show.
An emerging and friendly theatre company brimming with a lot of potential.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Heidi Downing
To find out about future performances of Liv: Sapphic Shakespeare, please click here.