Burton Taylor Studio, Tue October 27th - Sat October 31st 2009

I feel I must add my voice to the clamour surrounding this production, because it should be said that this is not only the best student show I have ever seen, it is up there with the very best professional performances I've attended.

The director, Matt Maltby, has a wonderful eye, both for tone, with lighting and sound complementing the show perfectly, and for detail, while the arrangement of what must be twenty separate scenes into a fluid, organic product is truly outstanding. His simple design works for every location, and his desire to examine the characters above all else, combined with his skill, is unmatched by any other student work I've seen.

His cast do him proud, with a star turn from Joe Eyre, who gives a performance that anyone in the business would be proud of. Jacob Lloyd is clearly very talented, and does extremely well with a very interesting part, while Lindsay Dukes matches him entirely. Often student shows are let down by poor actors in smaller parts, but Adam Baghdadi and James Corrigan were faultless, turning what could be two-dimensional characters into living, breathing people. I have seen much less able, and very successful, professionals.

This is a set of actors who have tremendous potential, and a director who gives a masterclass in attaining the very highest quality of performance. Every scene is incredibly finely-balanced, and I have never felt like an intruder on the characters' lives as I did tonight. I could have watched tonight’s performance twenty times and still be finding new things to praise, but as it is, I am limited to one night and 300 words. I can only hope that everyone involved continues to put on shows of this quality, because this is, purely and simply, at the pinnacle of theatre.

Samuel Robinson 1 Nov 2009

A refreshing gem. The rave reviews are completely right - this is entirely worthy of five stars, and of the sold-out crowd that accompanied it tonight.

Director Matt Maltby keeps it simple, complemented by a very funny and touching script. He has a great sense of tone (the soundtrack and lighting were splendid), brings lovely fluidity to the play (for a show with so many different scenes in such a small space, this is remarkable), and has coaxed some excellent performances from his actors.

Joe Eyre is wonderful, and the reviewer above me is absolutely right - he is charming, open and honest, and at times extraordinary. Jacob Lloyd is consistently excellent throughout, covering both repression and explosion with professional-level intricacy, while Lindsay Dukes brings exactly the energy, strength and naturalism needed. The smaller parts, Adam Baghdadi and James Corrigan as Ives and Dave, were both fantastic, to the extent that I wanted to see much more. Both were by turns terrifying and sympathetic, and it is unusual to see supporting parts played by actors who could easily be carrying the play on their own.

Maltby is dedicated to subtlety and detail, with every performance and moment played as realistically as possible. His insistence on minimalism is just right, and with nothing to distract we focus on the reality created by the cast. The actors seem totally in sync, each scene unravelling in front of us as an organic process, rather than a set of delivered lines, so often the malaise of student theatre.

This really is a cut above, with a talented cast and their excellent director delivering a show of real humour and beauty. I would go again if it didn't mean denying someone else a ticket, because this surely deserves to sell out.

Pippa Harvey 29 Oct 2009

A full house and a Bob Dylan soundtrack greeted the opening night at the Burton-Taylor Studio for the opening night of Some Voices, which seemed a pleasant omen. What followed was just under 2 hours of excellent theatre, which I can highly recommend to all.

The play itself is well-written. I wasn't familiar with it beforehand, but it contains a very funny first half, which turns into a dark and mostly gripping second act. The five characters are fully psychologically realised, and very interesting, but my only qualm is that occasionally a slightly hackneyed aphorism finds its way into the text. The very enthusiastic audience didn't seem to take issue with this, and the gags were almost all well-received.

In the programme notes, the director explains his desire to focus entirely on the actors, and this is understandable because they are a very highly talented quintet. Ray, played by Joe Eyre, is the protagonist, leaving a mental institution in the first scene to stay with his brother. Eyre is brilliant, never slipping. Ray is absolutely charming, and at the same time deeply odd. I found it impossible not to be taken in by his easy-going charm, and Eyre's rendition of both the dark and light sides of his character is a tour-de-force.

His brother Pete is perhaps the next most interesting character, played by Jacob Lloyd. Lloyd is remarkable, and far more subtle than the vast majority of student actors. He seems to have complete control on stage, very effectively portraying Pete's frustrations and difficulties with Ray, but never losing touch of his humanity. Both he and Eyre are breathtaking in the play's final climax, and if you need an excuse to see the play, his performance alone is worth it.

Lindsay Dukes is excellent as Laura, Ray's love interest, who has more than enough troubles of her own. She gives a mostly understated performance, but hits her stride with great effect when challenged. She and James Corrigan, who plays her boyfriend Dave, combine well in both their scenes together, and Corrigan manages to stay just about on the right side of stereotype with his abusive and violent character, albeit with a few accent lags. Adam Baghdadi rounds off the cast as Ives, a patient in the institution; his is the least naturalistic performance, and occasionally he struggles with playing a character clearly much older than him, but his scenes were uniformly powerful.

The show is the best-acted student show I've seen, with Eyre, Lloyd and Dukes playing particularly well off each other. The key is in its naturalism, with every tick and movement measured and in character. I haven't seen any of the cast before, so can't tell if this is to director Matt Maltby's credit, but if it is, he's nurtured some spectacular work. There were some first night negatives, with the odd clunky scene change, and a brief lull at the start of the second half, while the set pieces, including an attack with a hammer, are competent rather than spectacular: but this is almost entirely five-star stuff. I have to admit to being undecided about Maltby as a director. His brief programme notes state that the minimalist style is designed to focus attention on the actors, which, as you may be able to tell, is a good idea, but sometimes it detracts from the realism on display. He has a decent sense of style, though I wasn't so impressed with the lighting.

Overall, this is a five-star production of a play that is both very funny and very moving. Go and see it for the gags, but most of it all see it for a couple of truly outstanding performances. This is naturalism of the very highest order, which is not to be missed.

Michael Beyts 28 Oct 2009

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