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High anxiety: Collapse - Riverside Studios

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It’s a brave or maybe slightly provocative production to use Hammersmith Bridge on their artwork for a show called Collapse, which is about how everything collapses—poorly maintained bridges, relationships, and jobs. Nothing works. That’s probably too close to home for Hammersmith residents stuck with a magnificently listed and useless bridge on their front door. It gets even weirder when you realise the piece is staged in what looks like a meeting room with a bar. However, keeping things together in the most unlikely of circumstances is at the heart of Allison Moore's witty and engaging four-hander, which is currently having a limited engagement at Riverside Studios . The piece opens with Hannah (Emma Haines) about to get an injection from her husband (Keenan Heinzelmann). They’re struggling for a baby, and he’s struggling to get out of bed. But he managed to give her a shot of hormones before she started worrying about the rest of the day. She’s unsure she will keep her job with ...

Travelin' Through: Broken Toys @CervantesTheatr


Things are a bit different at the Cervantes Theatre when you see Broken Toys. You enter through the upstairs dressing rooms and go down to the theatre. It is a circuitous route, much like the story of Marion. You end up in the same place but have taken a different journey. And like what the old prostitute said. It's not the work but the stairs. And there before you is the theatre, but not entirely as I recall it. It feels like an intimate cabaret venue with tables and a shiny stage.

And there we are introduced to Marion. Marion grew up in a small town during the Franco regime. A place where looking a bit different could make you the subject of gossip and a threat to your life. And despite being assigned male at birth and the attempts of family and father figures, she was an outsider in her town. 


And so Marion sets off on a journey to the city. And in the shadows, she finds a place to hide. But with guidance from drag performer Dorian Delacroix begins to find her voice. Her journey ultimately takes her back to where she came from. 

It's a simple story boosted by engaging performances and a sense of time and place. Hayley Rose gives a nuanced performance as the unsure Marion, who is learning to become herself. So much that you feel like you are with her on this personal journey. As drag performer Dorin, Guy Woolf lights up the stage, especially when performing two cabaret songs in the piece. Miles Molan plays various supporting characters in Marion's life, including her love interests.

Small steps become significant, profound movements. And there's a reminder that politicians are eroding trans rights, such as those who espouse white Christian nationalism—a unique blend of racism, conspiracy, paranoia, wedge issues and a fascination with Russia. While most of it is in the  United States, there are the usual suspects and backers worldwide. A handy reminder that people are working hard to take away the rights and freedoms of others. 

Directed by Raymi Ortuste Quiroga, written by Carolina Román and translated by L. Finch, Broken Toys is at the Cervantes Theatre during Pride Month until 1 July.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Photos by Elena Molina Martínez

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