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Somewhere that's green: Potty the Plant at Wiltons Music Hall

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"I'm Potty the Plant," sings a potted plant in this odd little fringe concept of a show. It's hard not to get the tune out of your head, even if the show is brief. It's an earworm for a show that features a worm-like plant as a puppet. And given the show's brevity, running at only an hour, it's hard to get too annoyed by a lack of a coherent story, even if it still seems like the show could use a bit more development (which is underway). It has made its London debut at Wilton's Music Hall. The premise is that Potty, the plant, lives in the hospital office of Dr Acula (geddit?) and dreams of a life with the cleaning lady Miss Lacey (Lucy Appleton). But Dr Acula might be responsible for why all these children are disappearing while trying to romance Miss Lacey for her family's money that she doesn't have. Three nurses are on the case, trying to solve the mystery.  If the show settled on a convincing plot, location and set of characters, it could ...

Petty theft and other austerity measures: Spine @SohoTheatre

Spine, which is playing at the Soho Theatre until 2 November is a fascinating piece that looks into  the importance of knowledge in the age of apathy.

Written by Clara Brennan, it takes you on an unexpected journey. What starts out as a story of (potentially predictable) rebellious and troubled teenager builds to make some wry observations about generational divides, the loss of political leadership in modern Britain and the apathy of people, particularly in London, over things that were once valued. 
Funny and bittersweet, it is a powerhouse performance by Rosie Wyatt. She brings together two very different characters - the troubled and petty criminal teenager, and the elderly widow - in an emotional and at times explosive performance.

Over the piece, the characters bond over stories of petty theft and a large collection of books that the old woman has amassed in her house in Willesden.

Wyatt's intense performance won her a Stage Award for Acting Excellence for her performance of the piece in Edinburgh and it is easy to see why.

Even when she broke away from the script to tell someone in the audience to "get off (their) fucking phone, love", you half expected that if that person didn't obey she was going to beat the living daylights out of the recalcitrant. In character. 

From production company, Foolscap was set up in 2014 by Francesca Moody, Bethany Pitts and Clara Brennan to craft politically conscious new work with storytelling at its heart.

Foolscap are about galvanising audiences, through a combination of grit, wit and great theatre. You will be rushing out to your local library (if it isn't already closed and boarded up) to renew your library membership after seeing it.

Don't miss it. And put your phone on silent and out of sight.

****

Photo credits: Edinburgh production by Richard Davenport

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