Beast at the White Bear Theatre (Photo: Oliver Lamford)
When: On until 17th June 2012
Where: White Bear Theatre, 138 Kennington Park Road, London SE11 4DJ
£: 13 (10 concessions)
What is it?
Beast tells the story of the relationship between Valie (Mel Oskar), a prostitute, and Egon (Kieron Jecchinis), an artist. Both are drawn to each other whilst drinking on board a boat. As they toy with one another they become more and more involved until Egon becomes ill and their happiness is cut short. Although he is the aging artist and she the young pretty prostitute, it is she who claims to be the Beast.
The stage is simple with just a few wooden boards that bend up at the end, to serve the play’s scenes on the boat, at the seaside and the artists flat. This simplicity works perfectly well. A video projection plays at intervals during the play, which doesn’t add anything to the narrative but binds the sea themes of the play together nicely, adding a little to the atmosphere and taking some of the harshness of the spotlights away.
The script is lyrical with some of the speech rhyming and flowing really quite beautifully. In opposition to the poetic words is the interaction of the characters as they dance and stagger and pull at one another quite roughly. Both parts are played well and keep the audience’s attention. At around an hour-long the play is short but sweet, not ground-breaking or full of thrills but enjoyable none-the-less.
More info: Read our preview here or visit www.whitebeartheatre.co.uk and www.untitled-theatre.com.