Back to all articles

Appraisal for ‘Two2’ by Jim Cartwright, January 2023 - Suzanne Hall

---

Last Post: Sunday 19th February 2023

Two 2 is a fantastic well written northern play set in the back street of Bolton, a difficult play to perform which needs superb performances to play the pathos and humour that is sprinkled throughout the text. I very much enjoyed the performances from Paul & Liz and the direction of Steve Gill. The theatre lends itself well to realism and natural drama exploration and really is a lovely theatre, the staff and volunteers make each visit a wonderful experience. The first thing that struck me about the Set/lighting/costume/props/ was the set, which was stark and actually rather poor, unfortunately it did lack the ambience of a back street Bolton boozer and I do believe this did detract from the overall piece. The use of house lights to light when the actors were involved in the audience was again poor and very basic. I don’t believe the lighting was used to its full advantage, practical on set lights would have worked really well, again giving a homelier pub feel. Costume was minimal with the use of a significant prop for each character to motivate their performance a tutu for Lego for example, again this worked well, but the blacks worn by both actors needed to be addressed, in particular the landlord, the jogging bottoms did not work, he should have worn black slacks, giving more credence to his character. The absence of props; I was unsure why there were no pumps on the bar with optics at the side and the odd old painting hanging on the wall, as this was solely set in the pub for the duration, there was absolutely no need not to have a decent set for the pub. Likewise, a couple of round copper mottled bar tables and stools would have worked extremely well for staging and the actors to work with, along with the speed dating scene which was staged in my opinion completely wrong. Which brings me onto the direction and staging. The majority of the direction/staging of the performance was staged very well, and I enjoyed how the director had obviously worked hard with the actors to get the distinct character conflicts from each of the roles they portrayed, and at times I did lose myself in the difference of the characters and forgot they were being played by the same actors. However, there were moments when the actors had their backs to the audience, in particular the scene where emotion is very high and is totally lost with Liz completely facing upstage, we see nothing of her expression and pain which is paramount to her performance. Another instance is when she plays Contessa and sits in the audience, I understand the reasoning behind this, but in an intimate theatre like Rossendale, it isn’t needed, the audience are very much invested in the performance and are already in the moment. If there had have been a gallery audience, it would have been completely lost, furthermore if there had have been tables on set, there would have been no need for the actors to set the tables up for the speed dating scene, and this could have been so much more effective, I am bewildered why this particular scene was set directly in front of the bar, the actors where crammed in and the stage was unutilised, bringing it down stage right, would have worked so much better, giving the actors the room to move around and for Toby to eye his ‘talent’ as they walked on set. I did enjoy the character portrayals and Steve’s vision of how he wanted each character played. At times we did see stereotypical characters and perhaps they indeed were ‘hammed up’ for the most part this worked well. I would have liked to see much more chemistry with the husband and wife especially as they decide to give it another go at the end, the fact the writing is so good the performances should be ‘lived’ rather than ‘acted’ we didn’t get the same investment between the landlord and landlady as we did with the other characters. The karaoke section was in my opinion too long and I would cut each song down as it felt like this was a filler and didn’t move the narrative on, likewise the performance of ‘wind beneath my wings’ vas very drawn out. Finally, I would also suggest that when miming that extra care is taken, as many times the mime simply disappeared and things were very much forgotten shattering the illusion, thus, eye lines were also off, this should have been picked up in the rehearsals. I very much enjoyed Paul Higginbottom's performance. On the whole he did a fantastic job of bringing each of the characters to life. His clarity of diction was good and he had great presence on stage. I particularly enjoyed his performance of the Chef, which was remarkable; his timing was superb and he read the audience well in terms of his delivery, I was in hysterics and didn’t miss a single line. Likewise, his portrayal of Foo fi Foo, another great performance and Paul lived each moment, he transformed himself into the character and I was transfixed with his movement and flamboyance, this worked really well for the part. I didn’t get the same form Karate man, lines were lost in the delivery, emotion and pace inept in places, was this due to lack of direction? rehearsal? Or simply not particularly investing in this character? Paul did not live the moment, I didn’t believe this portrayal and I wanted so much more for this monologue. Quizmaster brought me back to seeing Paul at his best, great audience interaction and he really came into his own he performed this very well, likewise his characterisation of Toby, again very well done, showing an eclectic take on all the characters and overall a very good performance. Sadly, the one other thing missing was the lack of chemistry between Landlord & lady… I would have liked more from these two characters, the little looks and nuances that are there between husband and wife, I didn’t get that, which was a shame. One thing to note for Paul is to perhaps work on his clarity of diction, at times words were lost and unclear, I know they play extremely well so not a huge issue for me but for someone watching it for the very first time I can imagine a great deal could be missed. Liz Wood was a delight to watch, she performed really well throughout all her seven roles! Lego the bouncer was superb, a great performance, the use of the stage and interacting with the audience was very well done and I enjoyed the contrast to the other characters she played, I wasn’t sure about the voice, perhaps she could have changed it again when she started to perform ballet, in accordance to the fact she yearned to be a ballerina. The gruffness worked well when talking to landlord, but when talking direct to us, she could let down the act and be her true self, which would have given more dimension to the role. Donna was played really well, the stroppy young trainee chef brought to life with the interminable use of the mobile phone, the lilts in the monotone teenage voice and the belligerence of her was superbly caught in the performance. Contessa was my least favourite, perhaps the less believable of the other outstanding performances. A little contrived at times and I wasn’t truly enamoured with the accent which was forced. I didn’t like the use significant prop, the hat, which was extremely dated and not what she should have worn, likewise the positioning of her sat in the audience, this all detracted from a rather unbelievable performance. However, Liz completely nailed the speed dating characters living each moment well, Barbara was the sultry temptress with all the vigour one would expect, followed by shy girl Katie perfectly played and horsey Hettie, a wonderful performance of the ‘tally hoe brigade’ who was rather annoying, making this a much more believable performance and Liz worked extremely well convincing us that it was played by three different actors! Commendable indeed. As I have already mentioned the lack of chemistry between the landlord and landlady I do not want to labour this point. As the majority of Liz’s performance was superb and very well delivered! My conclusion - overall I really enjoyed this production of Two2, great performances by both actors who took on a tremendous amount with superb execution. Two handers are not easy to perform especially with limited set, props and costume to suspend the belief for the audience. This was an accomplished piece, very enjoyable and I left wanting more. Well done to all.