Whether watching a man in a panda suit run around campus while his significant other throws up her wine brings back horrific or joyful memories of Freshers’ Week, Peepshow guarantees to give a painfully close-to-the-bone look at what happens behind closed doors. The play, devised by company Frantic Assembly and written by Isabel Wright, is presented by director Francesca Murray-Fuentes in a performance that succeeds in tugging on the heartstrings of the audience, even if it takes a while to get there.
The inherent issue with Peepshow is that some actors simply steal the show in what is a piece free from ‘lead’ and ‘supporting’ parts. Whilst all actors are more or less successful in what they set out to do, Emilie Smith, Lauren Reed and Lewis Chandler are particularly fantastic, the latter holding his own in his part – which is largely monologue. Smith is perfect as the drunk, fragile and broken George and Reed comes into her own towards the end of the play, where her performance improves in leaps and bounds as the play reaches its emotional climax.
Peepshow succeeds in creating an uncomfortable voyeurism that the audience is forced to partake in – starting from the moment you enter the back door of the Barn and walk across the set – across two or three couples’ flats. And unfortunately therein can lie the problem – there is so much going on in 90 minutes, that the play doesn’t really go too far. Lives intertwine and stories mash together but lots of plot threads are left unresolved – does Ziggy Heath’s Richard really think that Chris White’s Ben is abusive? What was in the box? What happened to the affair between two flats? What does Loner really desire? These are not faults of the actors per se, but of the script, which sometimes is clunkily written, particularly in Richard’s constant, and jarring, use of the word ‘baby’.
Some characters are fully developed, but with most it’s not always possible to relate to them. Heath can sometimes feel too rehearsed and learned, though his character is too cold to feel anything for, making the performance at times too wooden. Heath does perform the dance sequence, choreographed by Hayley Thompson, skilfully and with ease and fluidity, opposite Reed and Chris White’s Ben, though this can feel a little under rehearsed as actors seem to only just manage to complete movements in time — though they succeed with the piece considering they aren’t dancers. As with a lot of the play, after initial teething issues, the performances all improve, and by the final few minutes there are no weak links. It is often said that any play can be saved by a good second act – and this one-act performance is redeemed by a thrilling final twenty minutes or so.
Producer Rosie Townshend and her production team have created a beautiful set, that also manages to make the Barn seem spacious and large, unlike the claustrophobic feeling that often pervades the space. Ultimately Peepshow is lacking in a certain pizazz that would make it an amazing piece, but is nonetheless a good start to this term for DramaSoc.