THEATRE REVIEW: In Skagway, Arcola Theatre, London

<p>It’s 1898 and the gold rush is coming to an end in the frontier town of Skagway, Alaska. Holed up in a mean little log cabin is Francis Harmon, once a big time actress and now wheelchair bound following a stroke, and her companion, May.</p> <p>by Chris Bridges | 12th Feb 2014</p><p>★★</p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.thegayuk.com/communities/8/004/009/928/388/images/4605737317.jpg" width="460" height="636" alt="" title=""/></p> <p></p><p>Whilst May tends to Frankie and plots for ways to affect a return to their previous fame and fortunes, her daughter, T-Belle, is out trying to find ways to get them all out of the desperate situation they’ve landed up in.</p><p></p><p>As you’d expect from the innovative Arcola theatre in London’s funky East End’s Dalston, the production values and set are excellent as always. The stark set and clever use of sound and lighting add real atmosphere to the play. Angeline Ball (star of the original film of The Commitments) plays Frankie with aplomb and as well as being hypnotic to look at is a powerful stage presence and a joy to watch. She radiates a fragile beauty and portrays emotions with a real sense of power. </p><p></p><p>Sadly, for me, there wasn’t much else that I enjoyed about the play. It felt like a long 90 minutes and what could have been a captivating tale, felt lacklustre and disorganised with no cohesive thread. The enticing themes failed to develop fully. The dialogue felt stilted and stagey rather than lyrical, accents wavered, line delivery was poor at times and the elements of humour of the piece mostly fell flat on the audience. The script felt turgid and stagey rather than thrilling and thought provoking. </p><p></p><p>Karen Ardiff’s play won various awards when it was first produced in Ireland but sadly, I think that the Arcola theatre aren’t going to gain many plaudits for this one and have produced a play which fails to deliver much at all for the average audience member. </p><p></p><p>It’s well worth keeping an eye on the theatre’s program, definitely worth a visit to the great bar and café there and worth a trip to Dalston itself with various interesting bars and hangouts. Maybe even seeing this play purely for Angeline Ball’s performance is worth the trip too. I wouldn’t go expecting anything too earth shattering though. </p><p></p><p>In Skagway runs until the 1st of March 2014</p><p></p><p>Buy tickets here: <a href="http://www.arcolatheatre.com/production/arcola/in-skagway">http://www.arcolatheatre.com/production/arcola/in-skagway</a></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/the-gay-uk/id616631043?mt=8">Read this and other stories on our free app</a></p><p> </p>