Shelter by Simon Bent directed by Joey Parsad
JADA Young Company
21st June 2014
JADA Young Company
21st June 2014
Shelter was written by Simon Bent with a view of giving young people a platform to act within their own age ranges. He did not want a seventeen-year-old playing a fifty-year-old. He welcomed the challenge of writing for a large cast and he wanted a subject that was relevant to them and one that he felt strongly about. Evolving from various workshop situations and nights spent in housing shelters, talking to homeless people, Bent gradually brought Shelter to life.
The story begins with Lesley leaving home for Essex where she meets other young people living on the streets. In fact the play explores the lives of all the young people and in so doing touches on physical abuse, bullying, drug-taking, low-paid jobs, prostitution, begging and racism.
The play is structured as scenes interspersed with monologues where characters reveal themselves, sometimes in quite shocking ways. The play starts with a scene in Southend and then cuts to a scene in a provincial town where Lesley says she is going to Essex.
Shelter is a play with aimless characters wandering around trying to make sense of an absurd situation and JADA Young Company choreographs this into a play that is thoroughly watchable and believable. I was very impressed in the way scenes seamlessly flowed throughout the performance. The actors constantly using the whole of the acting space with fluidity and making good use of the upstairs room of The Alex pub. Such a difficult subject matter could be quite intimidating for young adults, (the age ranges of the actors are an unbelievable 14 to 18 years old) yet every actor seized their part and made it their own.
While I consider that there were no weak links in this play, I was particularly impressed with Alice Chattaway as Lesley who, in one particular scene, moved me almost to tears, as she told the audience what she really wanted to say to her friend Anna; that she had been abused by her mother’s boyfriend and yet her mother had stood by and done nothing to help her.
Maddie Stavrinou also stood out for me as the pathetic girlfriend of Dougie, who was equally impressive in his role. She was constantly in character and gave a very believable performance. I also liked Jacob Davies-Giles, who had great stage presence. Also, Zee Mitha, who played two parts. No easy task.
Joey Parsad has done a fantastic job directing these young actors, who I believe have only been rehearsing once a week since March and many of whom have had exams recently. Each and every one of them has shown great dedication to not only the play but to Joey, who must be very proud of what has been achieved.
If I really had to nit pick, I could point out that perhaps the actors’ clothes could have been dirtier or scruffier, to give us a real sense of the filth of homelessness . Also in some parts, voices weren’t quite loud enough; but, to be honest, these are very very minor points and certainly did not detract from the performance.
I was particularly impressed with the sound effects that were played throughout, which made the audience feel as if we were on the streets too. The interaction with the audience worked very well and I was quite amused at one point where two young ladies in the front row were asked to move over so that one of the actors could sit next to a fellow actor. Fortunately, they were compliant.
It is totally unacceptable that there should be homeless people sleeping on the pavements of our towns and this play will certainly draw attention to it, but will it make a difference. Probably not, but undoubtedly the cast of this production and all who came to see it, will certainly send out a very important message.
Well done to everyone involved in this production and I look forward to seeing what JADA Young Company come up with next for us.
The story begins with Lesley leaving home for Essex where she meets other young people living on the streets. In fact the play explores the lives of all the young people and in so doing touches on physical abuse, bullying, drug-taking, low-paid jobs, prostitution, begging and racism.
The play is structured as scenes interspersed with monologues where characters reveal themselves, sometimes in quite shocking ways. The play starts with a scene in Southend and then cuts to a scene in a provincial town where Lesley says she is going to Essex.
Shelter is a play with aimless characters wandering around trying to make sense of an absurd situation and JADA Young Company choreographs this into a play that is thoroughly watchable and believable. I was very impressed in the way scenes seamlessly flowed throughout the performance. The actors constantly using the whole of the acting space with fluidity and making good use of the upstairs room of The Alex pub. Such a difficult subject matter could be quite intimidating for young adults, (the age ranges of the actors are an unbelievable 14 to 18 years old) yet every actor seized their part and made it their own.
While I consider that there were no weak links in this play, I was particularly impressed with Alice Chattaway as Lesley who, in one particular scene, moved me almost to tears, as she told the audience what she really wanted to say to her friend Anna; that she had been abused by her mother’s boyfriend and yet her mother had stood by and done nothing to help her.
Maddie Stavrinou also stood out for me as the pathetic girlfriend of Dougie, who was equally impressive in his role. She was constantly in character and gave a very believable performance. I also liked Jacob Davies-Giles, who had great stage presence. Also, Zee Mitha, who played two parts. No easy task.
Joey Parsad has done a fantastic job directing these young actors, who I believe have only been rehearsing once a week since March and many of whom have had exams recently. Each and every one of them has shown great dedication to not only the play but to Joey, who must be very proud of what has been achieved.
If I really had to nit pick, I could point out that perhaps the actors’ clothes could have been dirtier or scruffier, to give us a real sense of the filth of homelessness . Also in some parts, voices weren’t quite loud enough; but, to be honest, these are very very minor points and certainly did not detract from the performance.
I was particularly impressed with the sound effects that were played throughout, which made the audience feel as if we were on the streets too. The interaction with the audience worked very well and I was quite amused at one point where two young ladies in the front row were asked to move over so that one of the actors could sit next to a fellow actor. Fortunately, they were compliant.
It is totally unacceptable that there should be homeless people sleeping on the pavements of our towns and this play will certainly draw attention to it, but will it make a difference. Probably not, but undoubtedly the cast of this production and all who came to see it, will certainly send out a very important message.
Well done to everyone involved in this production and I look forward to seeing what JADA Young Company come up with next for us.