Review: VERS, Hen and Chickens Theatre
Photo credit: Brook Richards Photography
Last year, Unrestricted View at the Hen and Chickens won London Pub Theatres’ coveted ‘Pub Theatre of the Year’ award, and if the current run of VERS is anything to go by then this accolade is thoroughly deserved.
A double bill by emerging playwright F.L.J. Burge, VERS is exactly the kind of electric and adventurous new writing that deserves to find space to play and flourish in a pub theatre – before in time, inevitably – storming the stage of the Soho Theatre or similar. This is a raucous and varied evening that contrasts the simmering domestic dramedy The Dinner Scene with Poofs with Guns – a flamboyant twist on a heist story set in the criminal underworld of 1950s London.
F.L.J. Burge is a writer on the verge of extraordinary success – his dialogue is outrageously funny, punchy and pacy, and his characters wrought with delicacy and complexity. Beginning as a tense argument about veganism, The Dinner Scene roots around unflinchingly in the vulnerable parts of James and Tom’s relationship to expose how personal ethics and our battle with innate selfishness shapes us and our interactions. Poofs with Guns is a broader narrative that sweeps across decades and continents, rounding off a riotous clowning romp with a quietly devastating reflection on regret.
Both plays are joyfully and unflinchingly gay. Poofs with Guns, in particular, is distinct and unique in its showcasing of Polari – a coded language used by gay men in the early to mid-twentieth century as they navigated the criminalisation of homosexuality. It’s a wonderful and inspiring thing to overhear this as a talking point amongst audience in the bar – a rare and proud moment of something tangibly learned to be taken away from an evening at the theatre.
Under the playful direction of Irina Anghel, the cast of three – Chloe Taplin, Daniel Keogh and Graham Halley - showcase not only an insane amount of energy but keen and considered reactions as they keep up the punishing pace of the whiplash emotional beats, especially in The Dinner Scene. These three (as well as movement director Bartolomeo Bartolini) also deserve no end praise for their clowning in Poofs with Guns, a masterclass in physical comedy and prop-work.
The highlight of Mina Cuffwright and Marco Maschião’s sound design is their disconcerting mash-up of audio clips, seamlessly lip-synced by the wildly talented Chloe Taplin. Along with sound, the lighting and video design by Josie Ireland does well to punctuate and underscore Burge’s script, and to transport the audience – despite a lack of set – to the moodily lit, criminal underbelly of 1950s London.
Under the sure stewardship of producer Oli Burgin – by now a veteran of the pub theatre circuit – this play and this creative team are certain to have a larger stage.
Fresh, fun, fabulosa – each member of the VERS team is one to watch.
***** Five stars
Reviewed by: Livvy Perrett
VERS plays at London’s Hens & Chickens Theatre until 12 April, with further info here.
