THEATRE REVIEW: B ★★★★

B

Royal Court, London

Saturday 14th October 2017

In what can only be described as a derelict flat, two women are planning to plant a bomb at 3am in the morning. Not any normal bomb, to which could be violent, but a noise bomb; They want their voices to then be heard over the phone minutes after the detonation, but the visit of a male turns the situation deadly. B, written by Chilean playwright Guillermo Calderón and translated for the Royal Court by William Gregory, is a play about the crumbling society that surrounds us all!

I really feel in love with this production due to the realism and genuine danger that seem opposed on stage. What I find so brilliant about the Royal Court is that it’s listening to the real outside world and reacting to events by staging productions based on its findings. Calderón spoke recently about how he was influenced from the decade of bombings that have happened in Santiago, 200 bombs to be precise. The one bomb used in this production, though disguised as a birthday present, couldn’t help me but think it looked like the recent bomb scare at Parsons Green station. B is real life and is exactly why I cared so much about the issues raised in this production.

All the performers involved in this production were phenomenal in their obvious passion they had to convey emotions felt by probably everyone in the world in their movements and speeches. Aimée-Ffion Edwards and Danusia Samal portray Marcela and Alejandra, the two women who want to set off the Bomb, or more commonly spoken about in the production as a ‘Cheese’ or ‘Cow’. It at first receives laughs from the audience when the code words are used, and continue to do so at times to relieve the immediate tension given off from on stage, and that's only visible due to the delight that we have watching these two performers, alongside Paul Kaye as José Miguel, the man brought in to activate the bomb, and Sarah Niles who plays Carmen, the nosey nextdoor neighbour, who shouldn’t be written off following her first appearance on stage.

The set as first mentioned above is very derelict and minimal; black balloons are stapled to the walls, a cactus is in the window, and a lamp in situated on the floor to give as much attention as possible towards the actors on stage, which is a complete opposite to Victory Collision, the show performed not even an hour previously on the same stage as part of The Royal Court’s nightly rep, but again designed by Chloe Lamford.

Overall, B is an outstanding piece of theatre in this current climate and generation; filled with such tension that leaves the audience talking for what I hope will be a very long time. It paints the picture of our outside world in such a brutally honest way, but also balances humour at points with a sudden switch to reality in fine form!