Cranford Review 2019

“Overall, this production paid real service to Laura
Lomas’ words, allowing the text and the young cast’s
individual performances to take centre stage (so to
speak). The simple use of set and props (used sparingly)
within a black box space, quickly established that this
‘Chaos’ was one which put the text of the play and the
force of this ensemble’s camaraderie at the forefront –
playing entirely to the strengths of the cast. The simple
and effective design choices and slick transitions, all set
to a brilliantly curated soundtrack of music spanning the
decades and genres, added to the overall feeling of staged
cinematic vignettes cutting swiftly from one to the next”.
Elvi Piper (National Theatre Connections Director)
causing my heart to beat faster. Soon, however, I
felt all my anxiety flood out and it was absolutely
thrilling: I couldn’t have felt any happier.
In the twinkling of an eye, we came to the day of our
performance on Tuesday 30th April 2019 at the Lyric
Theatre Hammersmith. I felt about ten times more
anxious as I was in an unfamiliar environment and
out of my comfort zone but that quickly changed as
we started to rehearse. There was a beautiful garden
as well and it felt relaxing to just be able to look at
the city view, like a weight being lifted off of my
shoulders.
In the early afternoon, we were involved in a fun
workshop where we used the concept of Platform
Theatre by Jacques Lecoq. From being a police
officer to recreating a scene involving ruthless
bandits, crying toddlers and innocent villagers,
I myself and everyone else really enjoyed the
experience.
Soon it was half-past-seven in the evening, the
sun had set and it was nearing the time of our
performance. An abundance of minutes went by
and the lighting changed, all of us in the Cranford
Company stood up as the intro for “Thank u Next”
loaded. I was wearing a big and immediately
noticeable, pink robe and I danced without caring
about how ridiculous I looked and had fun living
the moment. A few moments passed by and it
was time for my monologue. As I performed my
monologue, it felt surreal being surrounded by an
engaged audience with pin-drop silence. There was
a bright, golden light on me, resembling a sun ray
and I couldn’t see anything except for the speckles
of dust floating around me. My body felt weightless.
As all the scenes finished and everything slowly
faded, all of our energies collected and we were
overwhelmed with joy and the whole experience
felt exhilarating.
Swarnali Acharjee (year 9)
“The understanding of the text, tempo and vocal projection
was of a high standard, and the attention and time spent on
textual understanding was evident. Each member of the cast
attacked their lines with an emotional truth and naturalism
that made us really care for these characters, whilst managing
to slip into the more abstract movement sequences and surreal
scenes (e.g. Dance) seamlessly. In further developing this
piece for its transfer to the Lyric Hammersmith, attention to
vocal confidence and projection still need to remain a key
objective for the different and larger playing space, whilst
maintaining the emotional truth, inflection, comic timing and
understanding conveyed in its delivery”.
Elvi Piper (National Theatre Connections Director)
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