London’s Bush Theatre opens its studio stage to this one-woman play exploring the insecurities and frustrations of a young life feeling at a dead end. Guillermo Nazara shares his views on the show, to let us know if its leafy plot is worth going tripping balls for.
Ah, I remember the last time I treated myself to a little bit of smoking fun. It may have been a while, but I still relish on the vivid memories from that experience. That explosive sensation filling up my mouth, and clutching every inch of my body with its galvanizing stir – as I bent towards that overwhelming burst of pleasure streaming before my face And now, let’s move on to another topic and discuss the theme of the play (avoid rolling your eyes, you know you loved it).
Today’s subject: DRUGS! Not the kind that you find in your local pharmacy – though there might be a local in your hood who may be able to help (if you catch my drift). Make way to Lady Dealer, a story whose title gives away pretty much everything about it. It’s a lady who sells pot. That’s it. Well, not quite. Because every dead end has a long path of twisted meanderings leading towards it. And that’s actually that story that’s about to be told. A recount of frustration, partial self-discovery and biased analysis on the choices we make both out of necessity and survival, but also loss.
Written by Martha Watson Allpress, the piece introduces us to an isolated woman in her late 20s, living in a council state house and making her bread and butter out of organic (Whole Foods, as she calls them – I’ll check their nutritional labels from now on) joints. A way of living she didn’t ask for, but she seems to be content about – as long as the thin facade that masquerades her suffering doesn’t start to crack.
Conceived with some levels of depth and delivered with satisfying dramatism, the work manages to provide us with a sympathetic character whose journey we want to be a part of. She’s fragile, insecure and about to break down. It’s tragic, but it’s also real. It does feel relatable. And to some extent, we can see ourselves reflected on her plight. We connect with her sorrow and understand the neglect she’s been forced to cope with. She’s not perfect (in fact, quite the opposite), but neither is the world she (and we, as well) have been dropped into.
A fairly interesting (though not too innovative) premise, the flaws nonetheless come from what, at some points, look like a slight lack of structure in the script’s evolution. Though taking us through a more or less properly outlined ride, some core elements appear to be out of place in some moments – not giving us the complete emotional cycle that would endow the plot with complete effectiveness, added to some minor (yet, anyhow, excessive) repetitiveness in some of its contents. In addition, though in general well staged, the blocking feels a bit unjustified in a few excerpts – giving the impression that the actress is being moved around more just for the sake of visual variety (which, in this case, doesn’t seem sufficient) than for narrative efficiency.
Be that as it may, the performance is nonetheless quite enjoyable – regaling us with an amusing and rather introspective perception of the mundane elements of our everyday. All of it, supported by Alexa Davies’s adequate rendition, concocting an approachable character whose likability in based upon the fact that she cannot cared to be liked anymore – not because she intends to, but because she no longer has the strength to try. And it’s the shattered pieces of her personality that, in fact, construct her charm.
A cheerful jaunt (despite the subject) filled with a good dose of sourness, Lady Dealer goes partially into the weeds of its themes through a more or less engaging execution, but still struggles to present an entirely functional machinery that allows to put its account into full motion. A bit more wit in its jokes, some editing and some slight improvements in the montage (as its one-woman show -ish- style cries for every part of the character’s conversations to be reenacted by herself, instead of using pre-recorded tracks) would serve as the final refinement for its material to be thoroughly sniffed. It’s moderately enticing, but it should aim to be dope.
All pictures credit to Harry Elletson.
Lady Dealer plays at London’s Bush Theatre until 15 June. Tickets are available on the following link.