Bob & Doris Are Not
Afraid Reviews
THE danger in writing a play about climate change is that it will either be packed with indigestible statistics or just plain worthy. But Jacquie Penrose’s new work is neither.
It is both imaginative and entertaining, and if the outcome is only that we have a better idea of what not to do, rather than what to do, that is at least a start.
The play was given three weekend performances in a joint venture by Havant Literary Festival and the Havant Transition Network,
The writer handed it over to Havant-based professional company Soop with the invitation to improvise on her basic text, and that opportunity was evidently seized with relish, particularly by director and key actor Nathan Chapman.
He changed character with a turn of the head, and community actors provided animal noises, the sound and movement of a ticking clock, indecipherable background murmurs and more.
The central characters (neatly played by Ingrid Corrigan and Vincent Adams) are a couple tempted by the rising tide outside their home to sign up to a deal with a company called Future Assurance. Think of the initials and you have an idea of how useful (or not) it ultimately turns out to be.
The production was presented in a hall without use of traditional theatre facilities - for the environment’s sake, of course.
More performances, please.
by Mike Allen in The News, Portsmouth.
23rd May 2011
A number of us from Transition Chichester made it all the way to Langstone Technology Park to see the play, ‘Bob and Doris are not Afraid’ written by Jacquie Penrose and performed by SOOP. Packing a couple of cars seemed pretty green until our Chairman and his wife arrived from Chidham on their bikes, cycling against a pretty strong headwind!
I think we all felt this was a play which should go far. The writing was superb, full of stark and dark humour and many a time just plain funny. The actors were superb, with improvisations being made to suit the ‘green’ nature of the perfomance. Just about the entire play was conducted with only the materials found at the Technology Park. As the Director Nathan Chapman said, ‘This is probably the greenest show I have ever been involved with!’
The core message was delivered, when the time comes, we are not going to be protected by Government Agencies, Big Insurance Companies, or luck, it will hit us all in many different ways, and we won’t know from what direction until it happens.
I sincerely hope Jacquie’s play gets a national tour, it deserves it, and I would even sign up to be in the cast, though I would probably only manage to be the stand in for the Grandfather Clock (don’t ask, you have to see it, but he was really good).
The style of the play reminded me of the work of Raymond Briggs, we all remember The Snowman, and we would like to forget, perhaps, his powerful ‘play’ ‘When the wind blows.’ Maybe he could help Jacquie convert this to cartoon form too.
And I hope she is writing more. I will definitely be a fan of hers.
By Graham Rawlinson on South Coast in Transition Dialogue
23rd May 2011