Toto Kerblammo! @ Unicorn Theatre

Toto Kerblammo tells the story of a young girl and her dog, as they navigate a challenging personal situation for her. Faced with a major tragedy and her mother taken to mental hospital, Effy has to move in with her aunt and uncle, where she can’t keep her dog Toto. It centres around the idea of listening — specifically that her dog can hear things she can’t to tell how she is felling. 

The story is told through headphones, creating an intimate atmosphere and one where the mechanism of listening becomes heightened. Moving back and forth through time and in and out of reality, the story unravels for us slowly, and in a really touching way, until we realise that another tragedy has occurred for Effy to move forward from. 

All elements of the production come together to perfection, but in particular, a couple elements stand out.  Tim Crouch’s script deals with intense subject matter, and for a young audience, yet doesn’t shy away from it or simplify it. In fact, there are elements introduced throughout the story which make it beautifully complex and difficult. The way the story unravels is careful to release just the right amout of story as it goes, slowly revealing what is happening and the depths of the situation to the audience. By positioning the story of this young girl’s emotional growth around her dog and what the dog can hear, with the overwhelming theme of listening, the audience are able to achieve a psychical distance and objectivity to the story while still being emotionally impacted by it. This is a beautiful story, well told — for audiences of all ages. 

And secondly, the sound design by Helen Skiera is truly exceptional, if relentless. The audio is playful and evocative — it creates closeness, and distance, builds spaces and changes times despite next to no change in the physical space. The layers to the sound design really emphasise the elements of the story and elevate them. The elements of sound design work together to create an intimacy between the audience, actors, and story.

Go see this.

Girls Like That by Evan Placey @ Unicorn Theatre (Recorded 2015)

Girls Like That by Evan Placey was recorded in 2015 in its premiere at Unicorn Theatre, London. You can watch it here.

Esther Baker’s production employs a simple reconfigurable design on the Unicorn’s thrust stage, with nondescript classroom chairs which are arranged and re-arranged to new spaces. The 6 actors have a primary character whom each portrays at different ages through school years, while there are occasional monologues that take on a historical female persona. Throughout, the way women are viewed by men is examined, and in particular, the line between a “good girl” and a “slut”. I use both of these terms in quotations, as they are indicative of the male gaze, and the angel/whore dichotomy that women have been relegated to throughout history.

On one hand, it is great to hear the voices of young women, discussing these issues and tackling the challenges of being young and female. On the other, however, these are largely on the surface, and focused almost entirely on what others think of them, and less on what they think of themselves. There are glimpses of this truth, however fleeting. I didn’t feel the script offered insight into what the girls were really thinking and feeling but rather looked only at their public mask.

I wonder if I would have felt differently had I encountered this at its premiere in 2014. I’m not certain.