“It’s a brilliant initiative and a fantastic opportunity for both the cast and the audience”
Matt Lucas (Actor and Comedian)
Lights come up on the Winston theatre’s stage. A green military-style coat hangs off a dressmaker’s mannequin. Symbolic of loss, love and history; it embodies what Gloucester Road is all about.
We see the political turmoil of the Thatcherite era through the lens of a shop: the Falkland war, mass redundancy, changes in drug culture and the rejection of immigrants. The space evolves, swelling with the financial boom and then contracting as the recession kicks in until it admits defeat and becomes a charity shop. These ebbs and flows in the life-cycle of the shop parallel the life-cycle of shop-owner Fliss. And, like all life- cycles, ends in death. Fliss, slowly descending into senility evaporates like a ghost from the stage. There is renewal however; a modern day vintage clothes store is borne out of Felicity’s legacy and the shop lives on. A darker, different kind of renewal is stressed as well, Greg (Ben Gosling) comically fanning himself with a Brexit flyer, reminds us that history has a tendency to repeat itself.
The play is laugh out loud funny. A lot of the comedy stems from male characters that speak over Fliss (played by Jude Mack, who was extraordinary). They’re ignorant, racist and chauvinistic and the stage is opened up for them to showcase their opinions so that their ideas can then be ridiculed. The constant stream of witty remarks and impeccably timed repartee is intercut by moments of poignancy. Whether it be about unrequited love, salvation through the mouthpiece of Moth (Ned Costello) or death, the show walks the tentative tight rope of making you want to cry and laugh.
The main challenge of the set design was to convey changes in time in the same shop. This was achieved simply and effectively; the audience moves from the 1980’s to present day through the placement of an Amstrad-style computer to an indigo blue vintage Mac to an iPhone. A lot of the seamless transitions across the decades can also be attributed to the clothes, which were on the whole accurate and innovative.
One of the best things about the play was the ways in which it created and sustained its Bristol-ness. The dialogue consistently incorporated the idiosyncrasies of the Bristol dialect – although the accents were at times dodgy! The plot also conveyed the types of relationships that are established between shop owners and regular customers, like the deep-rooted friendliness and strong sense of community, whilst caricaturing the stereotypes in every section of society associated with the city. This came down to research. Not only was the voiceover of the shop owners talking about working and owning shops on the Gloucester road effective for the narrative but it demonstrated the care and attention that went into creating an authentic story and Bristolian characters.
Gloucester Road is about change, ageing and journeys of regret. The writing and production were as professional and accomplished as any West-end show. Phoebe (co-director) stated that the team’s goal was “to unite the student body with the general community” and they have achieved just that. The play makes us think about the historical and cultural legacy of a rich city that we are lucky enough to call home for three years. The spirit of community seemed to have permeated the rehearsal process, Ben Bridson (writer and director) stressed that despite “having to put everything together within a month”, having a committed and sharp crew made the whole experience immensely enjoyable. The passion of everyone involved was evident and made the play a triumph.
To find out more, visit http://www.gloucesterroadplay.com/