Take The Floor Review
Take The Floor is a scratch night, hosted by the Monday Club. (For more information about the Monday Club – Read our earlier post: https://onin.london/monday-club-and-take-the-floor/).
ONIN London went along to the Chelsea Theatre on the 15th if January to check out 2016’s first scratch night and witness some of London’s up and coming artists, actors and performers.
With tickets priced at £6 for one or £10 for two tickets for the whole night, it was a lovely way to spend a Sunday evening. Especially when we go to see seven performances, which ranged from strange to humorous to action packed.
In Confidence (written and directed by Dorothy Cotter) was an amusing short play about an Irish couple’s unconventional therapy sessions. The comedic timing of the actors on stage was on point and at times their words weren’t even needed, as their facial expressions said it all. The ending of the performance was unexpected but extremely funny. I definitely would have liked to have seen more of this skit as some scenes appeared to be cut short due to only have ten minutes to perform on stage.
AmoreInTheNight/ The (re)discovery of the self (Choreographed by Luca Braccia and performed by Barber Dance) was the strangest performance of the night. Those who are fans of interpretive dance, I’m sure would have enjoyed the performance immensely. For myself though, I’ve never understand interpretive dance and this one in particular, left me trying to figure out what I’d just spent time watching. It was also a tad too violent and strange for my liking.
Girl Vs Dating written by Laura Dean – Definitely my favourite performance of the night. A realistic and extremely funny performance of a young woman’s entry into the world of online dating. I definitely would have loved to see a longer production of this ten minute play.
Control (written and directed by Nigel Bristow) – A short action packed film reminiscent of the matrix. It was a clever little film and one that if it had been a full length action film, could have been one that would do well at the box office.
Ten Minutes with Muriel Might Be Eight Minutes To Much (written and directed by Muriel Comedy) – Those not familiar with Muriel Comedy may remember a viral video last year of ‘If Tube Lines Were People’. Well these were the brains, creators and stars of that entertaining clip. The selection of sketches including the representation of a job interview at NASA following Trump being sworn in as president were laugh out loud funny.
A Perfect Gentleman (written and performed by Luke Rollason) – A satirical grotesque clown act by a nice guy in search of ‘the one’. What started off as comedy gold ended on an emotional send off. Some technical timing issues caused some jokes to fall flat, yet these were easily forgotten when the laughs continued throughout the performance.
After Before (written and directed by Robyn Hoedemaker) – An action packed and emotional short piece that could have been part of new TV show. Why were Claire and Paul on the run? Who is the mysterious Jeeves? While watching I did have flash backs to the likes of The Host, The Tripod Trilogy, science fiction books and movies that I enjoyed. Given this, I wanted to know more. The short piece was intense and expertly executed, despite the limited time they actors had on stage.
Before and after the show, guests had the chance to listen to Billy Bouguard (a modern folk singer-songwriter) and view Klaus Pinter’s visual artwork.
Overall, my friend and I had a great night. Drinks were cheap and the Chelsea Theatre is a great venue.
If you’re interested in supporting new talent within the UK and helping provide a platform for aspiring and promising artists to create new art, please support the Monday Club.
Monday Club is run by James Bailey, Charlotte Whitaker, Robyn Hoedemaker and Guy Remy. Monday Club is planning on running other scratch nights throughout the year and are currently looking for submissions for their next even ‘The Spill’. For more information visit www.mondayclub.co.uk/thespill
Reporter: Tegan LeBon
Twitter and Instagram: @toogs1
Twitter: @_Monday_club Facebook: @M0ndayClub Instagram: @_Monday_club
