REVIEW: Swimming at the White Bear Theatre

The advance of social issues in the twentieth century have got human beings questioning their own identities more than ever; sexuality, gender and mental health being a very small portion of these topics.

Swimming is a powerful piece of new writing by Alex Bower, which dynamically explores these ideas, and that prejudice is wired within us all, whether we are aware of it or not. After a sell-out run back in 2019, Kayla Feldman has brought this intense piece of work back on its feet in an immersive yet uncomplicated way. 

Right at the beginning of the play, we are introduced to the cracks between Dan (George Jones) and his long-term girlfriend Marianne (Rose Dickson). After their sudden split, he goes to the swimming pool and meets Sam (Dominic Rawson), where he immediately begins to question his sexuality. Even though he is adamant that he is infatuated with Sam, the plot is centred around Dan’s struggle to accept his queerness, both within society and in himself. Through trying to keep his relationship and sexuality a secret, his mental health begins to spiral and he pushes everyone away, including his best friend Ant (Andy Sellers). Swimming is in fact a wider metaphor for the decision of picking ones’ lane in life.

REVIEW: The Tailor-Made Man at the White Bear Theatre

This play tells the true story of William Haines, a movie star in the 1930s who was fired for being gay. In the story we are shown the ups and downs of his long term relationship with partner Jimmie Shields and their close friends who help put their life back together when they come under attack from local homophobes. 

In a time of Weinstein and Spacey, we have been enlightened with some of the disgusting goings on behind the camera in the entertainment industry. This play speaks out about that and even though its this production marks the 25th Anniversary of the play, it still has a relevant and prominent message. And with the wonderful Mr Trump in power, the homosexual themes are very close to home. 

Bryan Hodgson brings a new life to this play, his clean and simplistic style cuts together like a movie. Transitions were slick and innovative with focused and precise acting.

REVIEW: The Test at White Bear Theatre

If I hadn't known some of Ian Dixon Potter's previous works, I'd be tempted to be more critical towards his most recent play The Test. 

His strong interest for the extreme boundaries of science has already featured in Tiresia, in which he mentions the processes used by the human body to store knowledge and memory. Another common factor in his plays is the introduction of big ethical questions, which in Boy Stroke Girl focuses on the relative role of gender identification and in Tiresia on the implications of a brain transplant. The Test, instead, elaborates on the controversial influence of Artificial Intelligence on human dynamics. 

In this short but language-heavy performance, the main character is Dora (Natasha Killam), an ambitious female scientist, author of the first AI system provided with an autonomous consciousness. Contravening the instructions of her direct superior (Zara Banks), Dora decides to submit her device, called Mother, to the Turing test, which aims to establish its ability to respond to stimuli following the same behavioural pattern of a human. To do so, she needs free access to the whole internet and, for this purpose, she hires Josh (Duncan Mason), a computer hacker fresh out from prison.