Roots and Connections - Scratch Night Review

 The Space, London

As the organiser of the night Antonia Kleopa said in her introduction, the acting industry is a field full of challenges, unpredictability and, let’s be honest, often lacking originality. And I couldn’t agree more, which is why watching artists showcasing their work is so inspiring and so pivotal. They’re here to remind us why we tell stories, why we need to listen and why we need to support each other.

This SoulSpire Arts scratch night focused on the theme of Roots and Connections, though the pieces varied in tone, focus and effect in a way that kept our excitement going till the very end.

There were monologues like Howes Reynolds’ ‘A Plan for the Planet’, a sweet story about overcoming the fear of dogs and Fernanda Delgado’s ‘Treasure Room’, highlighting how essential it is to feel at home when living away from everything you’ve known as, well, home, by using items that hold memories to take us on a journey of innocence and change. Finally, Camilla Campbell’s ‘Untouchable’ demonstrated the heart-breaking danger of repeating the toxic patterns of those who came before us, performed in a conversational but powerful way.

Other pieces involved poetry and a multidisciplinary approach. Sonia Sabardeil’s ‘Wound’ incorporated music and choreography to show two sisters’ perplexing relationship, although the intention was often unclear, and Tilly Cater Thorp’s ‘Waves’ was an upbeat ode to London and the unbreakable bond among sisters in the face of grief, which gave a light-hearted note to the first act of the event.

There was a beautiful balance between comedy and drama. ‘Freshing Party’ by Sara Masry portrayed an international person’s experience at a freshers party, including the initial shock of the drinking culture and people assuming they know everything about you and your culture. One of the highlights was Alice Unitt’s cleverly written ‘Unfold’, which described in such a relatable way the struggles of being in your 20s and trying to figure out what you want from your life (and also the struggles of decoding your therapist’s cryptic life advice) with actors Alice Unitt and Christopher Watson giving a hilarious performance individually and as a pair.

Some of the writers focused on connections in the form of friendship. An example was ‘The Hide’ by Kayleigh Mai Hinsley, where Maeve invites her friend Linden to go bird watching, only to reveal that she needs an awkward favour, with some lovely chemistry between performers Andy MacKinnon  and Gwithian Evans. Another was Valeria Angelico’s ‘Two Performers Travelling Together (after years of postponing)’, which incorporated an interesting approach to facing towards and away from the audience while telling the story of two friends going on a trip together.

On the more dramatic side we had ‘the women who cried for a year (and counting)’ by Mary Condon O’Connor that created an eerie atmosphere by revealing intrusive thoughts regarding a mother-daughter relationship. Also, in Caroline Kriesen’s ‘Below the Treeline’ a writer’s muse lets out all her repressed thoughts and feelings about being used, which unfortunately needed a staging that was more visible to the audience and a clearer climax to have a compelling effect.

‘The Retreat’ by Antonia Kleopa was the final piece of the evening, a great way to conclude the night. In the extract, we saw how Jade, who suffers from dissociative amnesia following a car accident, first met her best friend Marie. We could sense the darkness of the piece and the intriguing puzzle that it had to offer, but the scene itself was heart-warming, funny and a lovely depiction of how two people can be different on the surface but connect instantly.

On the whole, it was a very enjoyable evening that made the audience laugh, ponder and admire the talent of those unique artists. Hopefully we’ll get to see some of the pieces fully developed soon and I’m looking forward to seeing what SoulSpire Arts is going to put together next.