★★★★☆
Four Stars
As I sat in front of the woodland set of Milja Fenger’s latest play They Will Be Red, waiting for the show to start, I wondered what exactly I was about to witness. There are few plays which feature solely soil, leaves and tree stumps as a set, especially within the intimate confines of the Burton Taylor stage which is laid out so that most of the audience are on a level with the actors, the soil quite literally beneath your feet if you’re on the front row. When they marketed it as “organic” in the programme, they meant it.
It is also marketed as not being a “polished final product”. However, as
the actors come on stage, the slick and intricate coordination of lights, live
soundtrack and a fast-paced script make it very clear, very quickly that this is by no means an amateur or sloppy production. They Will Be Red follows the story of Anna, and her determination to save the ash trees of England from a killer disease, at the expense of her relationships with friends and family. Whilst this is an original plot, it is the way in which Anna’s story is told through the narration of Fin, played spectacularly by Nick Williams, which elevates the play to what is an impressive height. Being just a two actor show, Williams also plays the part of every other character Anna meets, switching between them at lightning speed without breaking character or fluffing his lines once. Maisie Richardson-Sellers also delivers a solid and authentic performance as Anna, and handles Williams’ character changes excellently. Although these fast changes can occasionally cause some confusion as to which character Williams is playing at any given moment, these instances as rare and brief. It is impressive to say the least.
However, They Will Be Red is not just about saving trees. Fenger’s script is about growing up, change and how we deal with it. Well, I say script – Fenger wrote the backbone of the play, and the rest has been brought together through improvisation in rehearsal; each night, the cast plan to change it slightly. Just like the set itself, They Will Be Red is alive and changing. This may seem risky, but fear not, the backbone of the script is a sturdy one, switching from humorous one liners to poignant directness just as smoothly as Williams moves between characters. This is one not to be missed.
