Culture

Directed and devised by Jacob McDowell. Devised and performed by Abby Howells, Dianne Pulham, Trubie-Dylan Smith and Jerome Cousins, (2/5).


This is the first impression I had of Do You Want to Hear a Secret? -  ‘This weeks [sic] Allen Hall production is an experiment into the idea of empanthy [sic]’ Early on in the show itself, one character (Cousins) suggests that words can be ‘fuckin’ annoying,’ but when one is making theatre it often helps to worry about the words, even if they are ‘fuckin’ annoying’.
 
The programme also informed us that ‘Upon entering the theatre you will discover a coloured card. This card will be coloured.’ It was. I got blue. This meant that twice throughout the show I had to traipse down two flights of stairs, listen to Alice (Pulham) deliver a spiel and then head right back up again. I tripped down the stairs, both times. Sigh.
 
But stairs and words aside, I think the idea was original. Each individual in the audience was issued a card; each colour corresponded to one of the three named characters. You got to hear your character’s backstory. Supposedly the information that you were privy to would make you feel more empathy for that character as the rest of the piece played out.
 
Unfortunately I don’t think it worked because it didn’t seem like much was invested in the rest of the play. Long story short: they were all dead and in limbo. Ta da. They had all committed suicide. The time in limbo was odd, but not in a way I would expect limbo to be. Apparently they all had this mutual friend, Bella, who they watched write a letter while they talked about her. Weird. Irrelevant.
 
The acting was sound – Smith did well, very well, I was impressed. Howells was her usual subtle and understated hilarious self, ‘oh you went like Marilyn, cool’ (she herself had gone like Virginia).
 
Do You Want to Hear a Secret? was a good idea but it just didn’t come across well. It needed to break the routine, change the tempo, something, anything. Back to the drawing board with this one I think.