Written by: Dombo (@DomOJFryer)Where's Dom gone?
Etcetera Theatre, London
Was Dom fond?
***
It's difficult to gauge exactly what about this piece is
so interesting. Is it the narrative? Is it the acting? Is it the fact that the
set cost maybe £4 maximum? That’s not a bad thing; Dragon's Den would have a
field day.
Hot Property is a satirical comedy,
which takes place solely in one flat, occupied by Rob (Pip Gladwin) and Beth
(Joanna McCarthy). Upon her return from a friend's wedding, aspiring actress
Beth finds that Rob has found a girl on the street and brought her home. This
is not just any girl - it's reality TV star Natalie Darkins (Georgina Morrell).
It's only a matter of time before Beth's highly celebrated and successful
television producer of a friend Claudia (Tracey Pickup) and her assistant
Annette (Leanna Wiggington) find out; before you know it Claudia has pitched a
reality TV show about Natalie (who has now been declared missing). As the play
progresses, we find out more about Natalie and her past, including her damaging
tendencies.
The writing is incredibly strong, and whilst not being
clean cut (it needs a bit of tightening around the edges), there are some
highly intelligent and funny lines; clearly Matthew Randle has done a lot of
work here. The ensemble works well together, however the standout performers
are McCarthy and Pickup, who is at times enthralling to watch. These two were
excellent, but this is no discredit to the other members of the cast - they all
showed moments of greatness in a dark, non-adjustable space.
More could have been done with both the lighting and
sound; there is one brief scene where both are used in a trance-inducing mash
up of colour and noise, but aside from that the creativity in this aspect is
unfortunately sparse.
Overall, the play leaves room for improvement, but has
great potential. You feel as if it needs to be given a bigger space in order to
fully fly, but this bird, with it's strong cast, is only beginning to stretch
its wings in this small space. Hot
Property is a satirical view on our modern celebrity and social media
culture - with any luck it will soon be trending.
This production has now closed.
For more information on the venue: http://www.etceteratheatre.com
@EtceteraTheatre
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