
The Yard Theatre, in association with Martha Rose Wilson, present
Big Guns by Nina Segal
The Yard Theatre
Tuesday 21st March – Saturday 8th April 2017
“Following the critically acclaimed In the Night Time (Before The Sun Rises) at the Gate Theatre, Big Guns is an unsettling new play from Nina Segal, directed by Dan Hutton, Yard Artistic Associate and Barrel Organ founder.
Starring Debra Baker (Radiant Vermin) and Jessye Romeo (Martyr, Unicorn Theatre), Big Guns is a show that holds a mirror up to our relationship with contemporary violence: the feeling of it being dragged towards us. Unstoppably.
Big Guns is the prickling at the back of your neck, the faint taste of blood on your teeth, the could-be sounds of a strange figure in the semi-darkness. The YouTube clip you hope doesn’t load but can’t help watching. Privacy. Pornography. Flat-pack furniture. Big Guns is violence. Against others. Against ourselves. It’s paranoia. It’s a society living in fear. It’s the moment just – before”.
Big Guns, Yard Theatre, 24th March 2017 @7:30PM
Cast:
Two, Debra Baker
One, Jessye Romeo
Creative Team:
Director, Dan Hutton
Designer, Rosie Elnile
Lighting Designer, Katharine Williams
Sound Designer, Kieran Lucas
Production Manager, Ben Karakashian
Stage Manager, Roisin Symes
Publicity Design, Pentagram Design
Photo Credit Mark Douet
Review by TheDecadentDesigner, ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 Stars)
@DDReviewsUK
“This production certainly went off with a bang”
This was my first visit to the yard theatre and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Quite far off the beaten track, hidden away is this edgy, gem of a theatre. This will most certainly be a venue I hope to frequent in the future.
And now about Nina Segal’s “BIG GUNS”. This is an incredibly thought provoking piece of theatre with each creative element of this show working extremely well together.
The whole show is delivered by just two characters using three hand held wired microphones. The clever use of these handhelds coupled with the nausea creating sound scape, carefully designed by Kieran Lucas, make this the most effective use of handhelds I’ve ever seen.
The lighting in this piece carefully fused the generic rig with bright torches held by the actors, highlighting specific moments. Katharine Williams‘ design is highly effective while only using an led strip or batten running along the front of the performance area acting as footlights for a majority of the lighting of the performance. This was joined at the end by 2 source fours and 2 fresnels and that formed the majority of the rig. This really shows that you don’t necessarily need the latest moving head fixtures to create something really effective. One the best lighting techniques used in this show was getting the performers to light themselves.
Designer, Rosie Elnile uses a wedge stage with a heavy rake and small rectangle cut out of the middle which like the rest of the minimalistic production elements was incredibly effective.
All together an exciting performance in a fantastic venue.
Performance Dates Tuesday 21st March – Saturday 8th April 2017
Monday to Saturday, 8pm
Running time 90 minutes
Twitter@YardTheatre, #BigGuns
Location The Yard Theatre, Unit 2a, Queens Yard, White Post Lane, London
E9 5EN, www.theyardtheatre.co.uk, 020 3111 0570
How to get there Hackney Wick (on the London Overground) is 5 minutes away. There are regular trains running East to Stratford and West to Dalston, Highbury & Islington and Richmond.