Upstaged Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Running in the intimate setting of the Paines Plough Roundabout in Ordsall Park, Island Town is a brand new play written by Simon Longman. In the town where Kate, Pete and Sam live there is very little to do and very little hope for the future. Sam’s dad is a drinker and Kate is her dad’s carer; Pete dreams of becoming a dad only he’ll need to meet a girl first.
The intimate in-the-round setting of the Roundabout is the perfect performance space for this austere and bleak narrative. With a running time of just 80 minutes, the story follows Kate, Pete and Sam’s lives from the age of 15, as they get their GCSE results, through to their 18th year and then further on into their future. Making the most of the bare, circular stage and lack of props – there is an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia. Absorbing snapshots of the characters lives play out before they halt and jolt; using their physicality to switch time and space they move into another vignette, more hopeless than the last.
Despite the sense of hopelessness for the future of the characters, Longman manages to weave sharp elements of humour into the text. There are some real laugh-out-loud moments, usually involving Pete’s dalliances – his encounter with a goldfish and Sam’s nan. Charlotte O’Leary gives a versatile performance as Sam – starting out as wide-eyed and sparkly, the dead-end town takes its toll; Jack Wilkinson as spirited, likeable but hopeless Pete contrasted well with Katherine Pearce’s angry, bruised cider-swigging Kate.
Island Town is a brutal through compelling minimalist three-hander with outstanding performances throughout.
-Kristy Stott
Island Town runs at Paines Plough Roundabout in Ordsall Park until Sunday 9th September 2018.