Sixteen is an unforgettable social and theatrical experience. Would I recommend to it to everyone? Probably not, but being about a council estate, while being staged in an actual council estate, makes this a gritty and all too real experience for even the most broad-minded.It’s the eve of October’s 16th birthday and the official opening of the Kensal Youth Club. Raised in an illegal squat by her failed actor father Mikey and failed chef aunt Beth, the squat has finally become legitimate, and trying to become the heart of the estate’s community.
However, there is a nasty undertone to the preparations, as the severe bruises all over October’s body take centre stage, tacitly and then later, loudly.
Paedophilia and incest are unpalatable topics society wants to bury and forget. And yet in Sixteen, we are forced to confront it as a possible reality between father and daughter, Mikey and October.
Tension mounts as October’s mother, Oleta, who abandoned her in the squat at birth, returns as a relatively high-flying journalist, with twisted messages for the nest she left behind.
SPID specialises in site-specific theatre and it’s a very powerful tool. By staging this play in the heart of a real-life council estate, when the Kensal Youth Club comes under attack from angry youths outside, the audience sat around the performance space on old sofas and mattresses, feel just as vulnerable as the characters. The environment forces the spectators to become part of the action and removes the usual comfort blanket of being a bystander.
Sixteen is violent, emotional and uncomfortable. All the things a play sometimes needs to be. You go to the theatre to be removed from your world and transported elsewhere. This really does that and makes you think about other parts of society. Mark Frost delivers a fantastic portrayal of Mikey, while Hoda Bentaher’s October is a heart-renderingly damaged performance. Unfortunately the only role which didn’t seem to gel narratively or seem at all conceivable was Laurietta Essien’s Oleta.
Sixteen is violent, emotional and uncomfortable. All the things a play sometimes needs to be. You go to the theatre to be removed from your world and transported elsewhere. This really does that and makes you think about other parts of society. Mark Frost delivers a fantastic portrayal of Mikey, while Hoda Bentaher’s October is a heart-renderingly damaged performance. Unfortunately the only role which didn’t seem to gel narratively or seem at all conceivable was Laurietta Essien’s Oleta.
Sixteen, written by Helena Thompson, is showing at Kensal House Estate, Ladbroke Grove, July 23-August 28.
Review published Monday August 3 2009 in The Stage newspaper
