Student Review: Two, written by Jim Cartwright

A student written review of a recent  by Drama & Theatre Studies student performance:

We went to see the play Two on the 12^th of December 2012. The play was based in a pub where different characters came and went as the night went on. The set of the play worked well because you could clearly see where the bar was and some members of the audience sat at the tables around the side, this enabled the characters to interact with the audience. For example, Moth (Scott Meikle) flirted with members of the audience which added humour to the play.

The landlord and landlady (William Robinson and Lizzie Dabner) were specifically good as at the end of the play they had an emotional scene to perform, which made the audience feel sorry for them and brought tears to some of the audience members’ eyes.

Roy and Lesley (Steve Swaby and Emily Toovey) performed their scene exceptionally well as they stayed in role of their characters. When Roy was taking Lesley off the stage and pulled her hair it added tension to the play as well as shocking the audience. Roy used appropriate facial expressions to emphasise how scary he was. The tone of voice Roy used also conveyed the idea that he was a wife beater. Lesley added to the idea of Roy being a wife beater by avoiding eye contact and looking timid when Roy was trying to make conversation with her.

Light relief was provided by the character of Mr and Mrs Iger (Jacob Smith and Jessica Greenall) because they added humour to the play. Mrs Iger criticised Mr Iger until he couldn’t stand it anymore and reacted to the things she was saying by storming to the bar and demanding drinks. His sudden change in character from timid to demanding was very funny.

Overall we thought that the play was a success as it combined comedy and sadness effectively. It also included some excellent acting performances from the whole cast.

By Amy Bond and Emma Whitty.